Too Serious, Too Soon
by RemindsmeofaWestSideStory
Summary: AU. An alternate telling of the show starting midway through Book 1. AangXOC, ZukoXOC
1. Oh that is handsome!

Title: Too Serious, Too Soon.

Rating: T(for now)

Pairings: AangXOC, ZukoXOC

Disclaimer: Avatar is not mine, I own nothing, except the OCs. Kali is property of my friend, and Co-Author, while Masami is my own.

Notes: This is a co-op effort with my friend Katie, Kali is her character, and Masami is my own. This is our first Avatar story, and it is slightly AU. Enjoy~

XOXO

Masami knew hanging around a pirate ship probably wasn't the best idea. Kali didn't know they were pirates, but she was probably right. She moved slowly, glancing about the awkward little store. She wasn't sure how she should approach anything. She put her hand down on a table, and squealed as she put her hand down on a shrunken, shriveled up head. She lifted her hand, and examined it,

**"This is disgusting! I want it!"**

She held the head by the hair, and she looked up as a group of three entered. A male and female that appeared to be similar in appearance, and she then laid eyes on a little boy, a year or so younger then she. There was something oddly captivating about him. She looked away as he looked at her. She watched them moving around and she gradually got closer to the bald boy for a moment. He was quiet adorable. She tossed some gold on the table for the shrunken head, and she turned to go as she heard the bald boy speaking like a pirate to the man she'd just paid.

**"What say ye to the price of one copper piece?"**

The pirate laughed, and the boy offered more, but only by 1 copper piece, and this angered the pirate. As he did, Masami couldn't stop herself and she giggled. She covered her mouth, and she scurried out of the ship. As she was outside, she began to look around again, and she was startled as a group ran past her, nearly knocked her over. As she stumbled, she ran into someone, and she looked up to see the boy from before.

**"Run!"**

He ushered her, she looked behind her to see the angry pirates chasing after them. She picked up herself and she began to run with the group, trying to keep her eyes out as she did, where had Kali run off?

Kali strolled along the docks. She'd found most of the provisions they'd needed, including some tasty cabbages a somewhat familiar looking merchant had sold her. She wondered if, by chance, he was the same cabbage merchant she'd met all those years ago as a child. She studied the foreign looking ship in front of her. Masami had insisted they meet here, due to the distinguishing look of the ship. She'd been intrigued by the ship and Kali had as well, but had warned Masami that it didn't seem particularly safe. She thought the crew looked a bit too suspicious to be ordinary merchants. Kali frowned. Masami had been supposed to meet her here several minutes ago. Maybe she had gone into the ship to look around? Kali's concern increased. She had better go take a look around inside the ship. As she started to move forward, she was nearly knocked over by a man running into her, holding a pile of stuff. The Fire Nation soldier peered around his pile and frowned down at her,

**"Watch where you're going!"** She narrowed her eyes but said nothing and stepped aside. The Fire Nation was not to be trifled with unless absolutely necessary. Though she was a fire bender, Kali considered herself to belong to no country truly. Her mother had been a Fire Nation prisoner of the Earth Kingdom, her father's land. But the Fire Nation had done her no favors. Their own soldiers had been responsible for the deaths of her mom and her fellow captives. She watched as the man, followed by fellow soldiers also carrying piles (except for the last, who carried a Tsungi horn), strolled down toward a small, older looking Fire Nation ship moored at the end of the docks. Surveying them from not too far away were an older, chubby man and a young man with a scar covering half his face. The former had a cheerful smile on his face and appeared to be explaining something to the latter, which wore a dark scowl across his face and was clenching his fists. His scowl turned to a look of surprise as the man carrying the Tsungi horn passed. Kali turned her attention back to her sister then and headed for the strange ship.  
Entering the makeshift shop of the ship, Kali peered around the room. An odd assortment of items greeted her eyes. Boomerangs, strange statues, shrunken heads, scrolls, and various other objects of interest were spread out on shelves. She walked along, feigning interest in the contents of the shelves and attempted to ignore the wary stare of the man who stood behind the counter at the far end of the room. The reptilian bird that sat upon his shoulder, his dress, and the overall contents and look of the room convinced her that this was, indeed, a pirate ship. She had just come to a decision to simply ask the pirate about her sister when another pirate suddenly entered the room, apparently out of breathe. He held a sharp blade in one hand and appeared to have some manner of cream or oil coloring his lips, which made them brightly, colored. She found this odd but quickly glanced back at the statue with glowing eyes in front of her when he looked her way. As he reached the counter, the other pirate, who appeared to be the captain, asked in a gravelly voice,

**"Well?" **At that moment, the two Fire Nation men she'd seen earlier walked in and the older man, seeing the statue in front of Kali, quickened his pace towards her.

**"Oh that is handsome!"** he exclaimed, beaming, then turned to her,

**"Are you thinking of buying this?"** She shook her head and returned his smile,

**"Oh...no. I was just admiring it, is all."** She shuffled back to allow him room to further gander at the statue and turned to look at the shrunken heads instead. The Scar groaned,

**"Uncle, we don't have time for this!"**

**"Just a moment,"** Uncle replied calmly,

**"I think I might buy this. Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"** Fruity Lips and the Captain turned back from looking them over then and Fruity Lips answered the Captain's earlier question. "We lost the Water Tribe kids, the little bald monk they were with, and that other girl." The Scar stiffened and turned to them at once, stepping forward.

**"This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?" **

**"What's it to you?"** demanded the Captain. Kali glanced at Uncle, who was making a comical imitation of the statue's face. She suppressed a giggle and continued to listen to the conversation behind her. The Scar spoke smoothly in a low voice, but a quality of tension clung to his voice,

**"I'm searching for a certain young bald monk with arrow tattoos. If this monk you mentioned was him, I may be willing to help you in your search for them."** The Captain's frown deepened,

**"What exactly would you gain from that?"** The Scar narrowed his eyes.

**"All I want is the monk, assuming, of course, that he had the tattoos. Did he?"** The two pirates exchanged glances, then nodded. Just then, Uncle nudged her and Kali looked down at him, startled.

**"What do you think of this statue exactly? Do you think it would be a bit too much if, say, I set it up in the galley of our ship? I mean, it has quite an attractive quality to it, I think."** Kali found herself unable to repress a smile and nodded,

**"I'm sure it would look lovely in the galley of your ship."** The Scar, who'd noted this brief conversation, continued,

**"What exactly would you gain from finding them?" **

**"The Water Tribe girl stole a water-bending scroll of considerable worth. We want it back."**

**"Well, then I can provide you with reinforcements for tracking and capturing them. We can both get what we want."** The Scar leaned forward, his eyes narrowing further,

**"Do we have a deal?"** Again, the pirates exchanged glances and the Captain nodded,

**"Agreed." **

**"Excellent!"** exclaimed Uncle, moving forward next to the Scar,

**"Now, perhaps you could get me a deal on this statue as well?"** The Captain shrugged then looked over at Kali, who was still pretending to have a morbid fascination with shrunken heads.

**"You gonna buy any of those or not? Cause if not, you need to leave now. Shop's officially closed."** Kali smiled over at him,

**"No thanks. I've decided none of these are quite my style."** She began to head for the door, wondering if the "other girl" Fruity Lips had mentioned could be Mazami. Abruptly, Fruity Lips appeared beside her and grabbed her arm,

**"Perhaps you'd to reconsider? Earlier we had a customer who touched one of them by accident and became instantly inspired to buy it. It might be the same for you and it's only a few gold pieces."** She looked back at the heads. Sounds like something Mazami'd do, she thought.

**"All right,"** she half-smiled at him,

**"Perhaps I would like to reconsider. Mind showing me where exactly that shrunken head the other customer liked was?" **She allowed him to lead her back to the heads. Uncle pulled the Scar aside and leaned in,

**"Prince Zuko, are you sure this is wise?" **

**"Of course I'm sure. What better way to find the Ava-the monk, than with the help of others who are looking for him as well?"** Kali didn't like the sound of this whole thing, especially if her sister was involved. She could feel the prince's eyes on her and looked around, meeting his eyes for a moment. He was glaring at her impatiently. Obviously she was delaying him. Feeling slightly resentful, she slowed her pace slightly then, reaching the heads again, looked down at where the pirate indicated the shrunken head had been. She thanked him and gingerly touched the other heads while searching for a sign, any sign, that her sister was indeed that other customer. Not finding it, she sighed inwardly, but couldn't ignore the growing feeling that her sister had gotten herself into this mess somehow. Finally, she forced herself to resume the original plan of asking the Captain about her sister. She picked up a head and walked forward to purchase it. As she did so, she asked,

**"Could you describe what this other customer who bought one of these looked like? As it happens,"** she glanced back at Zuko,

**"I'm looking for someone as well."** The Captain frowned darkly and impatiently and said,

"Look, girl. Unless you have something to offer here, I've no use for anyone else getting involved here."

**"Well,"** she said, thinking fast,

**"I'm simply looking for my sister. She's got brown eyes, brown hair, is about yey high, and often undergoes inspirations from brief experiences such as touching a shrunken head. I can't offer you any more reinforcements than myself, but I can offer you someone who knows this area well and is very good at tracking people down."** Here she exchanged a glance with Uncle,

**"I have to track Masami down often. If you need to find those people, tell me what you know of them and I can track them for you. And fast."** This time, it was Zuko and the Captain who were exchanging glances. Finally, the Captain scowled and said,

**"Fine. But you'd better be able to track as well as you claim, girly."** Kali's insides tightened but she forced herself to calm down. At least now, she wouldn't have to worry about trouble finding Masami before she did. Because she'd be there right beside it.

Her legs stretched beneath her. What was she running from? And why did those Pirates look so angry?! Who were these people? Were they any better then the Pirates? She started to fall behind, when the strange group got turned around, and ended up cornered. She didn't know what was going to happen to them. But before she could panic, the bald boy pulled a staff from his side, and turned it into some kind of glider. They all clung to him, she knew this wouldn't hold them all! But, she was wrong. They sailed off towards God only knew where, and they were out of sight.

As they landed near a river, Masami spied a rather large hairy...thing rolling around in some water, and got a better look at the people. She sat on a rock and she watched two of them angrily exchange words, apparently one of them stole something, but she had a point in mentioning the pirates stole it first. Then she heard one of them mention Water Bending, she could do that! She stood, and she slowly ventured closer. She got closer, and she noticed the little bald one look at her, and smile,

**"Hi! I'm Aang."** He said, she smiled lightly, and dropped her eyes to the ground,

**"It's nice to meet you Aang, I'm Masami."** She looked at the other two as they spoke. They appeared to be siblings, as they were very similar in appearance. The boy spoke first,

**"I'm Sokka. This is my sister Katara."** Masami nodded to them, and smiled. She looked at the scroll.

**"Is one of you a water bender?"** She asked curiously. Katara nodded,

**"I am, do you bend at all?"** She asked with a small smile. Masami nodded,

**"I bend water a bit. I used to be better then I am now. I am a little afraid of water, so it gets hard sometimes."** A little was an understatement, she was horrified of some water, but she was a step up from where she had been, that was for sure. She didn't know what to do with herself a few years ago, she could at least stand in the water now. She watched Katara lay the scroll down, and she said,

**"Well, you're welcome to practice with Aang and I."** She smiled. She was friendly enough. Aang nodded, and Masami agreed. As they practiced the wave move, she toned them out, and she moved a few feet away, she didn't hear the others get mad at each other, she didn't hear anything. Her focus was unmatched at times when she could seem so flighty at other times. She pulled up one leg, and some water rose with her. In rapid succession she kicked out, then turned, dropped to the ground, and stood gracefully, sending the rest of the water shooting like a whip. She repeated the bend, going the other direction. This was one more off the scroll she did know how to do. She felt eyes on her and she stopped. She heard Katara sigh hotly, and she moved away from the group. Aang looked a bit confused, but he quickly forgot about whatever had happened and he bounded towards her.

**"Show me again!"** He said, smiling at her with big eyes. She smiled lightly and nodded, lifting water, and her leg. She kicked, turned, dropped and tossed the water as she had before. He smiled and laughed and he copied her, out doing her by a long shot. She smiled,

**"Wow, that was impressive. Are you normally a Water Bender?"** She asked, watching him continue to out do her.

**"No I'm an Air Bender!"** She nodded, smiling until she realized what he had said.  
**  
"An air bender?"** He nodded and smiled. Sokka glanced over,

**"I suppose him being the Avatar slipped our minds to tell you."** She had not only met other water benders, but she had met the AVATAR today!? She needed to sit down. She sank to a rock and she smiled weakly,

**"Well, that explains a lot, hmm?"**

Kali was anxious. No, scratch that. Well beyond anxious. #1, Masami was off running around with some complete strangers and doing who knows what. Zuko had started to mention something, which sounded suspiciously like the Avatar when he'd been talking to his uncle. Avatar or not, Kali hated the idea of Masami being in such a situation. #2 Fire Nation soldiers and pirates combined were currently chasing this group with the intention of capturing them. Bad things were bound to happen. #3 She, Kali, was currently on a pirate ship sailing alongside a Fire Nation ship, traveling with both the pirates and the Fire Nation soldiers pursuing Masami. And quite frankly, this whole situation was a bit uncomfortable. How did things like this happen anyway?  
She had successfully tracked the group down to a certain area of forest along a river not far from the seaside village they'd been in. Various eyewitnesses, including that cabbage merchant (who'd apparently had his cabbages crushed by the bald monk in the process of escaping the pirates), had identified a girl who could only be Masami flying (flying?!) away with the monk and Water Tribe kids in the direction of this river. Once they'd reached the mouth of the river from the sea, they'd discovered that the river actually split into two different rivers. Kali, in order to prove her worth on this mission, had been forced to scout ahead hastily, looking for any sign of people in the area. She hadn't been kidding about her tracking skills really. She'd learned to track very well from different people she'd met through her travels and was also good at hasty scouting. She found little helpful evidence along the first part of the first river after nearly an hour of running along the banks and climbing trees for better views. It was night at this point, so looking for smoke from a fire didn't help and evidently she wasn't close enough to anyone to see an actual fire. The pirates and especially the fire prince were quite impatient and this added an extra edge of desperation as she searched the second. Zuko's uncle had fortunately had the foresight to mention that the people in question often traveled using an enormous fluffy, white beast. She soon came across a clump of white fur as well as an entire set of supplies lodged against a log in the river. She had brought the fur and supplies back to them and they continued down the river.

She stood leaning against the rail of the ship gazing ahead of them and listening to Prince Zuko and the Captain talk quietly. "Shouldn't we search the woods?" asked the Captain.

**"We don't need to,"** Zuko said flatly,

**"They stole a water scroll, right? So they'll be near the water."** Good logic, she supposed. She looked at the Fire Nation ship traveling alongside them and wished she were on the ship with Uncle. He seemed like a relatively friendly man. Much friendlier than his nephew anyway, which didn't take much. As far as she could tell (and maybe this was just jumping to conclusions based on first impressions), he was one selfish, arrogant son-of-a-bitch. He seemed quite disrespectful toward his uncle, was very impatient and harsh toward his crew, and generally seemed to care little about anything other than himself and his own goals. Kali supposed that bald monk might very well really be the Avatar, which would explain why the prince wanted to capture him so badly. She had been pleased when she'd heard the news that the Avatar was back. If anyone could help sort out this mess of a world, she supposed he had the best chance of anyone. She wondered where he (she now assumed the Avatar must be a he if he was indeed this bald monk) had been during the last century. Her gaze drifted to the prince. And while she was at it with the random questions, what was this prince's deal anyway? Where'd the scar come from? She shuddered and thought of her own scars, always kept covered by the long sleeves and gloves she wore. Masami had always told her she shouldn't worry about the way they looked, but the scars made her feel like everyone would stare at her if she uncovered them. This guy didn't have that option though, did he? Unless he went around wearing a mask. And as far as she knew, fire princes weren't supposed to do that. Come to think of it, why was he out here doing this job? Weren't princes and princesses supposed to be kept safe or something since they were the heirs to the throne? Hmm...on the other hand, hands-on experience would definitely be the best way to learn more about the world and test your strength.

Zuko looked back at her abruptly,

**"You're sure they're down this way?"** She nodded,

**"Unless they planted that pack of supplies in the river purposely and that tuft of hair, which doesn't seem too likely, they must be down this way."** Or have been down this way, anyway, she thought to herself. She tried not to think about what would happen if they didn't find them here. She doubted she'd be forgiven for that, even if it wasn't her fault. Zuko grumbled under his breath about how they'd better be and paced the deck restlessly, while the Captain gave her a harsh look and went inside the cabin. A few moments later, Zuko stopped pacing and stared out at the space in front of them. Kali remained leaning against the railing and eyed him. He couldn't be much older than her and was probably only an inch or so taller. She wondered why he chose such an unflattering hair style. The ponytail looked fine but the rest of his head being shaved gave him a strangely older and unsettling look, adding to the already uncomfortable feeling she got from looking at his scarred face. The scar appeared to brush across the side of his face in such a way that indicated a fire blast to the face. Somehow, she had a feeling it wasn't an accidental blast to the face. Well, that would explain, in part at least, the major attitude problem. She strolled casually forward.

**"So, what's so important about a little bald kid? The Fire Nation have something against bald monks?"** He turned and narrowed his eyes at her,

**"That's none of your business."** She stared back impassively at him and said,

**"Actually, I think it might have become my business since I'm currently aiding you in finding him. Basically, I'm aiding you in capturing him and that's not something I really take lightly. I'm here to find my sister, which is sorta self-explanatory. She's my traveling companion and I want her back to keep me company and because I care about her. Somehow, I doubt you and said monk are buddies and you're capturing him for the sake of company."** His brow furrowed and his scowl deepened (huh, that was possible?) and he looked away, his teeth gritted. Silence greeted her for a moment and this time, she was the one who narrowed her eyes. Then Zuko finally said,

**"I need him to restore something I've lost."** She waited, her body now turned slightly to face the ship's front but her eyes still focused on him. She'd been thinking of cracking a joke about it being the rest of his hair, but had decided that his sense of humor appeared to be non-existent, at least in this situation. He seemed even more serious (and perhaps a little lost, in a way?) than before (again, that was possible?). She had a strong suspicion too that if she pushed him, he'd simply angrily yell that it wasn't any of her business again, which was something she couldn't exactly argue with. Finally, after the tension between them had grown so tight that she was thinking of simply looking away and dropping it, he said quietly,

**"I need him to restore my honor. Without him, I've got no chance."** Then he turned and walked hastily back toward the cabin. She felt a tinge of sympathy rise up inside her, but then forced herself back to the reality of the situation. Lost honor or not (how did one lose honor without doing it purposely? and if he'd done so purposely, this probably served him right.), he was still a asshole. It was on this cheerful note that she suddenly heard the unmistakable sounds of someone struggling with water bending. Splash!

**"Grr! Come on, water, work with me here!"** Kali paused for a moment, grappling with the decision of what to do, when Zuko and the Captain came back out and heard the second splash and cry of frustration. She sighed inwardly as they immediately headed for shore. Please be safe, Masami, she thought, these people aren't going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Masami had fallen asleep what seemed like hours before. She knew she probably shouldn't sleep right around two males she didn't know, but she figured they were harmless. The female, Katara, from earlier, returned, and then fell asleep next to her brother, and Aang next to them. She laid down near Aang, and he smiled widely at her before they fell asleep,

**"Good night Masami!"** He whispered happily. She blushed lightly, thankfully it was dark and he couldn't see it. She whispered back,

**"Good night Aang, sleep well."** He nodded, and he closed his eyes, then a mild fluff landed on his shoulder, and curled up. She had heard the monkey called Momo. She smiled at it and she felt her own eyes drift closed. She awoke sometime later to angry shouts. Her eyes shot open, and she is hauled to her feet. Before she knew what was happening,

**"What're you doing?!"** She cried, thrashing around in her bounds. She was dragged back out of the brush, and she saw Aang, Sokka and Katara also in binds. Why was this happening?! She cried out lightly as the person holding her arms tugged harshly,

**"Quiet girl."** He growled. She recognized some of the men as pirates from earlier. She heard the others she was with exchanging some words, but she had tuned them out. She twisted her hands lightly, and she managed to bring some water up, and it collided with the man holding her binds head. He squealed lightly and let her go. Aang managed to stir up dust, and she began to cough, lost in the center of it.

**"Masami! Sokka!?"** She could hear Aang calling. She coughed again, and she pulled herself up.

**"Aang!"** She blindly ran into a cloud, and she tripped over something, screaming and she fell on a smaller body. She pushed herself up, and she came face to face with Aang. She blushed again, and they sat there silent for a second.

**"Glad I found you."** He said happily. They pulled themselves up, and he continued to call for Sokka. As they agreed to meet outside the crowd, Aang flew out of the crowd with her clinging to him, and they crashed on the outside, getting up and heading towards Katara, who was trying to move a boat. She and Aang joined and they were able to climb abroad the boat, leaving the scuffle behind, or so Masami hoped.

This is ridiculous! thought Kali. She watched the poor Water Tribe girl get captured and taunted by Zuko. Apparently, he'd acquired her mother's necklace at some point and was trying to use it to barter for the monk. Yep, I knew that sympathetic moment was stupid, she thought, wondering if there was any way she could help the girl without getting herself captured. When that didn't work, Zuko demanded the pirates go search for the others if they wanted their scroll back. He looked at her skeptically, apparently wondering whether he should order her to do so as well.

**"Well, you want your sister so bad, why don't you go look for her?"** Kali looked at the girl, wondering for moment if she should try to help her. Then she remembered the crowd of fire benders standing right across from her and decided she'd better do what he'd suggested. She'd find a way to help get the girl out of this mess later.

The sun was just beginning to come up as she spotted them. She ran to wake them, knowing she had to get her sister and help get their friend back. Just as she was reaching them though, she felt herself tripped and one of the pirates grabbed.

**"Hey!"** she shouted loudly, hoping to wake Masami and her new friends,

**"I'm ON YOUR SIDE!!!" **The monk woke and yelled,

**"Sokka, Masami, Katara wake up!!"** only to be grabbed from behind by another pirate. Kali kicked the pirate hard in the shins, and then started to unsheathe her swords, not wanting to use fire bending in front of so many people. Unfortunately, at that moment, two more pirates joined him and the monk, spotting them and apparently mistaking her for one as well, hit them with a powerful blast of wind. They shot through the air and Kali was slammed directly into a tree. By the time she started to get up, the three pirates had her swords and had grabbed her. One held a knife to her throat.

**"We don't trust you, girly! After all, your sister's with them!"** Realizing struggle was futile, she let them lead her, along with her oblivious sister (who'd slept through the shouting and fighting as she was wont to do) and the monk.

**"Oh, so I'm not good enough to capture?!"** she heard the Water Tribe boy shout, right before he was captured.

She glowered at Zuko and his fire benders as she and the others were led back. She'd worried about this but it had been a risk she'd needed to take. Now what? Masami was in her own world apparently, still waking up. The Water Tribe boy, whose name was evidently Sokka, was causing problems now. He was, as Zuko put it "trying to turn (them) against each other," and it was working very well. The pirates, knowing now that Aang (the monk) was the Avatar, intended to keep him and the fire prince was not taking it so well.

**"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!"** he growled and the fire benders attacked. The pirates flung themselves into the fight, using smoke bombs just as Aang kicked up a huge cloud of dust and Masami hit her pirate with some water. Kali was so glad to see her sister again, especially using such bold moves with her water bending. Kali took advantage of the confusion and tripped the pirate holding her, who had fortunately lowered his knife out of distraction. She bolted into the cloud of smoke and dust, looking for the pirate with her swords. As she did so, she heard Masami shout and shifted to trying to find her, amidst the assorted weapons and fire. Just as she had neared the place where she could hear her sister, she was abruptly elbowed in the face by a small figure and then tripped over by her sister, whom she recognized from the scream. She heard Masami and Aang both say something and reached over to grab them both, which lead to someone else stumbling over her arm while she was simultaneously kicked in the stomach. She groaned aloud. This is just not my day. Again, how DO these things happen?! Reaching again for her sister and finding her gone, she crawled out of the cloud and found, to her delight, her swords. Picking them up, she immediately brandished them as Fruity Lips came flying out of the smoke towards her. He cackled at her, evidently not expecting her to be able to do much, and lunged but she parried then knocked him back into the cloud. Meanwhile, Zuko had popped out of the smoke next to her and in the next moment, she whipped out of the way as the Captain's sword appeared. Zuko then nearly hit her with his fire bending and she proceeded to take a few steps backwards. Stupid- her thought was interrupted as Uncle appeared beside her and grabbed both Zuko and the Captain, stopping their fight.

**"Are you too busy fighting to see your own ship has set sail?!"** Zuko yelled,

**"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!!"** Kali looked over at the ships.

**"It's no proverb**!" she and Uncle said in unison. Sokka, Masami, Aang, and Katara had stolen the pirates' ship.

**"Bleeding hog-monkeys!"** shouted the Captain, running down the beach after them. Zuko laughed (a sense of humor. could it be? go figure, it only appeared when other people were unhappy.) and then looked startled as the pirates taunted him from his own boat.

**"Hey! That's my boat!"** he yelled and started to run also.

**"Maybe it should be a proverb," **Uncle wondered.

**"C'mon, Uncle!"** Zuko shouted. Kali turned to him,

"It should definitely be a proverb."

Sokka, driving the boat laughed at the misfortune of the Prince on the shore. Masami stepped up there, and she didn't want to laugh, but she did. She then spied her sister, and before she could get too far away, she began to jump up and down.

"**KALI! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!"** She ran towards the edge of the boat, and she jumped up and down, partly to be able to see over the railing, partly to be seen. She didn't know who that boy was with her sister, but he looked scary! She looked to the others on the boat,

**"Whose that boy with her? Who are these people?!"** She noticed they were being chased. She finally felt anxiety beginning to set in. Masami began to pace lightly, Aang approached her,

**"They're Fire Nation soldiers, and they're after me. Who were you yelling at?"** He asked, grabbed her rode to keep her from pacing, She looked at him, and she sighed,

**"She's my sister...I don't know how she ended up with them, I don't feel right about that boy with the scar."** She jumped as Sokka yelled from the front of the ship,

**"I hate to break up this conversation, but we're in trouble!"** He cried, looking over his shoulder. They were about to go over a waterfall. She felt more panicked then before. Katara had the idea of them working together to hold off the fall down the falls. They were able to hold off, but for how long?  
**  
"I'm a little bit scared, I'm not going to lie about that."** Masami admitted, nervously looking back and forth from the other Benders and Sokka to the falls. Aang smiled,

**"Don't worry, we'll be okay and you'll get back to your sister, I promise."** His promise had nothing to back it up, but it was enough to sooth her rattled nerves. She nodded and smiled, until they saw a ship coming towards them, and they couldn't stop, and the ships collided, and everyone was sent flying, Masami was beginning to panic again, and she said a silent prayer for the first time in a long time that she, Aang, her sister, and everyone else somehow involved in this Madness would make it through alright.

Kali lost her cool as she watched Zuko's boat plow into the boat her sister was in and watched both go over the waterfall. She screamed,

**"MASAMIIIII!!!"** and, having outran Zuko and the pirate captain, reached the edge just in time to see her sister and the other three saved by what appeared to be a giant flying bison. She stared at them as they flew off. First, relief washed over her as she saw that her sister was safe, then a mixture of sadness, annoyance, and disappointment. Once again, she was back to the question of Now what? She had a sinking feeling this would be a recurring theme in the near future. Zuko reached her and looked down at his destroyed boat in dismay,

**"My boat!!"** Uncle came a moment later, huffing and puffing from the effort of running. For a moment, Zuko stared down at his ruined boat, also huffing and puffing, but from anger rather than fatigue, while Kali stared up into the sky after the flying bison. Then Uncle giggled abruptly and said,

**"Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The lotus tile was in my sleeve the WHOLE TIME!!!"** He withdrew from his sleeve a lotus tile (the kind they use to play Pai Sho) and jubilantly smiled as he held it up for all to see. Zuko did not get a kick out of it. He snatched the tile and threw it fiercely out over the waterfall. Kali noticed, to her slight amusement, that it landed perfectly on top of Fruity Lips's drenched head. The amusement however, was only momentary. She collected herself and turned to the two fire-benders beside her.

**"You'll be going after them again, then?"** she stared intensely into Zuko's angry eyes.

**"Immediately," **he replied in a low, menacing voice. She lowered her voice to match his tone.

"Then I want to come with you."

**"What?!"** he asked sharply, clearly taken aback.

**"Obviously, you've tracked them down before and you'll do it again. I want in on it. My sister's with them and where she goes, I go. Catching them on foot would be ridiculously hard and I'm not hiding in a cart of cabbages again. Both would certainly be unnecessary when there are other options. You have a ship, a crew, and, from what I understand, a team of rhinos. I don't want money, I'll do any tasks you ask me to do (provided they don't involve hurting someone), and all I ask is that you give me a ride on your ship to find my sister...and provide me with food and water like you would the rest of your crew."** Zuko glared at her.

**"What makes you think I would want you on my crew?"** he demanded. Now was not the time to be modest, she knew.

"Whether you want me or not, you've got me. I can do lots of things. I learn things fast so I'm willing to pick up any tasks your crewmen can throw at me. I'm talented with swords. I can cook pretty well..."

**"Did you say cook?!"** Iroh asked excitedly,

**"As a matter of fact, we just lost our cook recently. We'd love to have a new cook!"** Zuko turned to glare at him,

**"Uncle, we'll be fine without our cook! The crew can cook the meals. We don't need a new one."** Iroh gave him a sideways glance,

**"Have you tasted Lt. Gi's cooking? He may be a fine man and a good fire-bender but he is not meant for cooking! What harm would it do in letting her come with us? You owe her for helping us find the Avatar this time in the first place. We might not have even caught up with him in time if she weren't so quick at scouting. Besides, she has as much of a reason for finding them as we do."** Zuko groaned irritated then looked back at her.

**"Fine. You can come, but you'd better be a good cook and you have to take my orders from now on. Understand?"** She glared back at him and nodded,

**"Understood...Prince Zuko."** She clenched her fists as he stormed off and Iroh looked at her,

**"I am sorry for my nephew's rude behavior. He has been through a lot and consequently has developed a very bad attitude."** He paused, then said excitedly,

**"So what will you cook first? We have lots of supplies!"**


	2. Fire Nation Shoes?

This hadn't really been what she wanted to do, find a Fire Nation camp, then get have it mobbed by kids who came out of the trees. Masami didn't know what to make of this. She didn't like changes, and this little change in scenery wasn't her idea of a good time. Jet. She didn't like him, or his hooligans that came from the trees. Aang and Katara seemed quiet taken with him, but she didn't trust him. She had spent the last day sticking closer to Sokka, who was the only one of the group with any sense recently.

"**Masami, is something wrong?"** Aang asked her the second night of their stay. His brown eyes implored up at her.

"**Not really, I just don't know what to make of all this."** She said with a smile, as they sat up in the cabin they'd been staying in. She didn't know where anyone else was, but she was thankful for the quiet. She enjoyed peace, and she was finding she also enjoyed time with Aang. She didn't know what her attachment to him was, but she liked it. He smiled at her, and he yawned. Her guess was he hadn't gotten in until late last night. She could see bags under his eyes, and she could see his usual vertical posture was sagging a bit. She crawled a bit closer, and looked at him, he blinked sleepily, and he looked at her with a small smile,

"**You look tired Aang." **She said, he nodded, hanging his head lightly,

"**I am pretty sleepy."** She smiled, and she placed a hand on his shoulder, he looked up, and she motioned towards the beds in the corner. He had slept on the floor the night before, as had she, as Katara and Sokka had taken the bed, they said they'd switch it up later, but it didn't bother Masami, though Sokka said she could have it tonight.

"**Lay down, and sleep. You need this more then I do."** She said. His large eyes implored up at her.

"**You need to sleep too, don't you? It's getting late."** She smiled, and shook her head,

"**It's alright, you need to sleep more then I do."** She said, and she saw that he lay down. As he started to drift off to sleep, or she assumed he did, she started to go to the floor; she felt a hand grab hers. She looked back at him, and he said sleepily,

"**You don't have to go?"** He asked more then stated. She smiled. She supposed she didn't have to. She shook her head,

"**I don't have to if you don't want me to."** She assured him gently. He smiled lightly, and he seemed to be able to rest easier, knowing he hadn't ousted her from a bed for the night. Instead, she climbed next to him, and she drifted off fast, not even noticing his arm being flung over her neck, though none would ever know if it was just him moving or something more.

XOXO

This hadn't really been what she wanted to do, find a Fire Nation prince (banished, apparently), then join his crew and get yelled at frequently. Kali knew exactly what to make of this. This really blows, she thought wryly, as she found herself given mopping duties yet again. Thankfully, Uncle absolutely loved her cooking and the rest of the crew seemed to enjoy it as well. Many even seemed relieved. Zuko, of course, didn't really express an opinion, which was good as far as she was concerned. She worked her way along the corridors, mopping. Really, the mopping wasn't so bad for the most part. It was just a couple of the crews' rooms that bothered her, as they were quite messy. Other than those rooms, the rest of the place was relatively clean for an old ship where multiple pairs of boots were constantly tramping, strolling, and stomping. She had just entered the main cabin where the helmsman was doing his job, a few members of the crew were playing Pai Sho against Uncle, and Zuko was glowering when a strange connection was made in her head.

**"Why is it that Fire Nation ships look just like Fire Nation shoes?"** she asked aloud, raising her eyebrows at the thought. The crew stopped their game to stare at her, their looks a mix of confusion and surprise. Even the helmsman turned to look at her. Zuko even took a quick break from his glowering to look at her like she was an idiot, though she was certain she saw a moment of recognition pass through his eyes. Then Uncle laughed.

**"Ba ha ha! You're right! I'd never even thought of that! Our ships DO look a lot like our shoes. That's a good question actually and I'm not sure what the answer is."** She shrugged,

**"Hmm, well just wondering. Guess it was probably done by accident."** She hastened to finish mopping in there, since lots of people in the room made it somewhat difficult and awkward. She actually liked the crew a lot. Total, there were five regular soldiers and four fire-benders (aside from Zuko and Uncle) aboard the ship who doubled as the was Lieutenant Jee, a tall fire-bending officer who was the senior officer in charge (after Zuko and Uncle, of course). He seemed like a basically nice guy, though it was obvious he had a bit of a problem with Zuko. But, then again, who didn't have a bit of a problem with Zuko really? Salvatore, or Sal as the others all called him, was also a fire-bender and seemed relatively young but obviously experienced (a long thin scar on his right arm left by an Earth soldier's sword confirmed that). He was relatively quiet usually, so she didn't know much about him. He was always courteous to her and the others though and when he did speak, it was usually something valuable or interesting that you didn't want to miss hearing. There was Hadji, a small, wiry man missing several teeth who looked like he'd fit in well with the pirate crew. He loved to tell stories and, since Kali was the only person on the crew whom he outranked, he often spent his time (when he wasn't doing his job) in the kitchen telling her his stories. She didn't mind since they were always very interesting. Then there was Balbo, an seemingly perpetual optimist who was slightly chubby, a bit taller than Zuko, and bald on top with a long white beard. He was a soldier and had actually been under Iroh (Zuko's Uncle) back when he was a general leading the siege on Ba Sing Se. Kali often burned to question him about Uncle's military past, as well as Ba Sing Se, but she hadn't yet gotten the chance to ask him. The two other firebenders, aside from Gee and Sal, were brothers who were definitely new to this. Their names were Garron and Obi. Garron could be a bit of a smartass at times and loved to play pranks on his underlings, but often his sense of humor was a great relief in contrast with the overwhelming seriousness that seemed to hang over the ship far too much (thanks to Zuko's obsessive, driving behavior). Obi, by contrast, seemed to be a real sweetheart and sometimes she had to remind herself that he was a soldier. She had trouble picturing him hurting a fly. He'd even managed to sneak a stray cat he'd found in the rain one day into the ship. She, Garron, and Hadji knew about it, but everyone else seemed mystified by the strange meowing sounds they sometimes heard randomly around the ship (except for Uncle, who probably knew about the cat but insisted it must be the pipes or the oldness of the ship causing the noises). This left three non-fire bending soldiers. The helmsman, Garrow (not to be confused with Garron), was an older man who spent virtually all his time behind the wheel on the ship, which Kali figured must be utterly exhausting (especially when Zuko was there too). Thus, Garrow didn't speak much normally but Kali had enjoyed some great conversations with him the times she'd been in the room alone with him, cleaning usually (Zuko did his best to find as many minor tasks for her to do whenever he caught her not doing any kind of work. She figured he must want to keep her busy and distracted, since he didn't really trust her.). He seemed quite happy to have someone to chat with. She suspected that the next time she came by and the room was empty, they'd be talking about shoes and boats based on the look he'd given her in response to her earlier question. Kahn, a soldier who'd taken a heavy blow to the head from an Earth soldier's hammer at some point, was quite the character. He suffered from short memory loss frequently and also seemed to have great difficulty making even the simplest of decisions. Consequently, he was fairly unpredictable and sometimes very ill-tempered and one of the random tasks Zuko often ended up assigning Kali, it seemed, was to help keep Kahn out of trouble. She felt sorry for him and wished there were a way to help him recover from the head trauma's effects. Lastly, there was Adar, who was probably only a few years older than herself and Zuko. He was impulsive and moody often, but to a much, much lesser degree than Zuko. When she'd asked, he'd said that when he'd joined the military, he'd hoped to be doing something more exciting and rewarding than constantly riding around on a ship, getting seasick, and failing to capture the Avatar. He was fairly nice to her, despite his moodiness. Overall, the crew and Uncle seemed to accept her as one of their own, even though as far as they were concerned, she was from the Earth Kingdom, and therefore technically supposed to be considered an enemy. Only Zuko appeared to have a problem with her. Then again, that was only when he had time to have a problem other than his problem of capturing the Avatar. Why was he so consumed by that obsession with the Avatar anyway? Hmm, she'd have to move that to the top of her list of topics to discuss with the rest of the crew.

XOXO

In the middle of the night, Masami felt a touch on her arm. She turned over lightly, and she felt herself cover a smaller body, and was tapped on the back a bit harder. She moaned, and she opened her eyes, coming face to face with a sleeping Aang. She turned over as she heard a "pssst!" behind her, and she saw Katara for the first time that day, or was it in 2 days? What time was it?

"**What's wrong?"** She asked, in a loud whisper. Katara glanced around, and she made a motion for her to follow her outside. She pulled herself off the bed and she saw Aang shift lightly as she got out of bed, he rolled over and quickly claimed her spot. She shook her head, and she followed Katara onto the balcony. As they reached outside, Katara spoke,

"**I need to talk to you…about Jet."** Masami didn't know what to expect. She nodded, and she followed Katara. They entered the bathhouse, and they separated for a second, and met up in the bath. The Bathhouse was a public bath, with a lot of steam and rocks to lean against. How they got it into a tree was beyond Masami, but she didn't have time to think about it when Katara started to speak. She looked rather nervous,

"**I couldn't talk to anyone we travel with about this, so I'm glad you're here. I…I'm not sure, but I think I have feelings for Jet. I know he doesn't seem like the best type of person to have feelings for, there's just something about him I get get over, do you know what I mean?" **She asked. Masami was floored that Katara would feel more open with her then her own brother, but she was thinking she did know what she meant,

"**I think so. I think I may be in the same boat with Aang…"** She looked down at the water, and she heard Katara laugh,

"**I could see that from the way you act around him, I think it's cute."** Masami was shocked, was she obvious?! Her face must have given away her thoughts, because Katara laughed again,

"**I don't think you have to worry about him knowing, he doesn't usually get things very fast."** Masami smiled lightly,

"**I'm glad to hear that. I do hope things go well for you with Jet, what do you think you will do about him?"** She asked, cocking her head to the side,

"**I'm not sure, Masami. I'm really not sure."** Katara admonished, hanging her head sadly.

XOXO

Kali looked around uncertainly, then walked into the room. She hadn't actually mopped in here before because the last time she'd been mopping he'd been in here and yelled at her for breaking his concentration with her knocking. She knew he wasn't here this time though and it was the only place she had left to mop today.

Zuko's room was the same size as everybody else's, not surprisingly. It's decorations were a bit more elaborate though. To one side sat a little desk with candles on it, which she knew he used for meditating purposes. Above it hung a beautifully carved dragon face. On the opposite wall from her, a shield with dual swords not unlike her own hung. To her left, his bed sat with a huge fire nation emblem draped above it. She glanced behind her and went back to mopping. She had a feeling he'd be kind of pissed if he discovered her in here, but he was the one who'd told her to mop the entire place so he could deal with it. Once she'd finished mopping, she looked back at the swords, curious to compare them to her own. She had just begun to examine them when she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. She grabbed her mop and acted as if she hadn't finished.

**"What are you doing in here?"** Growled Zuko, standing in the doorway. She looked down at the mop, which seemed like it should be the one to offer the explanation, then said,

"I'm finishing mopping. Yours was the last room I had left and since you were in the main cabin, I knew I didn't have to worry about interrupting your concentration this time..." she paused,

**"Prince Zuko."** Addressing someone like that was really annoying, especially him.

**"Well, now that you're done, get out!"** He started to step in. She began to say,

**"Wait, that's still really-"** _Bam!_ He slipped and fell, landing hard on his back.

**"...wet."** She looked down at him awkwardly, then decided she'd better at least offer to help him up. She held out her hand to him and (of course) he refused it and got up on his own, only to start to slip again. She grabbed his arm to help hold him upright, but his own weight combined with his armor, as well as her having to stretch out to grab him pulled her off balance too and they fell in a loud clatter of armor, mop, bucket, and bodies to the floor. The bucket landed conveniently on her head, spilling water on both of them. She looked down at his indignant face and said weakly,

"Maybe you should let me dry the floor first..."

XOXO

Aang awoke to a hard shaking sensation. He opened his eyes to see Sokka shaking him rather violently.

"Have you seen Katara?! I think that freak may have made off with her!" He said, Aang blinked, not really registering what all was going on at this point. He shook his head warily,

"I haven't seen her." He said, his voice thick with sleep. He didn't understand what Sokka had against, Jet, but he figured he had to help him go look for her now, he didn't like to see his friends upset. As they climbed out of the cabin, they could hear female voices coming from around the corner. They moved towards the sounds of speaking, and they saw another cabin, and they could hear voices they recognized coming from the inside. Without much of a second thought, Sokka charged straight into the room, and all went silent for a second as he did.

With that being said, there was a set of screams, both feminine and masculine. Sokka came running out, and past Aang. Aang blinked, and he slowly made his way into the room to see if everything was alright. He came face to face with a very flushed set of girls, (who were both changing) and he too was soon chased out of the room. He didn't know what to do. He blinked and he cocked his head to the side,

"I wonder if Sokka saw a ghost, I didn't see anything to run from..."

He shrugged and he walked back towards the cabin.

XOXO

Kali worked especially hard on dinner that night. She wanted it to be great. Awesome. Stupendous even. Not that Zuko would probably notice, but she figured that it wouldn't hurt to please Uncle even more than usual. She had decided to make roast duck (one of his favorites) and to brew gin seng tea (his favorite kind of tea). He'd actually taught her one day some secrets to making exceptionally tasty tea (he ought to know, since he was, without question, a complete tea addict). Zuko's mood was even fouler than usual due to their little spill in his room earlier. Some support from his crew and especially his uncle would be nice, just in case he was planning on dropping her off at the next port.

She carefully walked into Uncle's cabin. Since Zuko'd decided to spend the rest of the day sulking in his cabin, Uncle (or General Iroh, as she'd learned to call him) was taking his meal in his room. He greeted her with his usual smile,

"Ahh! Excellent! My favorites! Gin seng tea and roast duck! Is there an occasion I was unaware of?" he looked up at her, his smile widening. She smiled back,

"Nothing special, General Iroh. Just thought you might enjoy this even more than usual. It's nice to have someone who appreciates my cooking so much. Masami always seemed to like it fine, but she was never a really big eater." She set it down on the little table in front of him and started to leave.

"I am sure your sister is doing well," he said abruptly and she turned, surprised.

"The Avatar and his friends do not strike me as unkind people. In fact, from what we've seen of them, I'd venture to say they're quite nice really, at least when they're not being attacked." She nodded slightly and glanced down. She hoped he was right. They'd seemed alright but that had been in the middle of a battle between pirates, fire-benders, and kids so she'd been a little distracted at the time. She looked back up at him and smiled slightly,

"Thank you," she hesitated,

"I just hope we find them soon. I miss her a lot." He nodded and gave her a kind look,

"I do not doubt we will locate them soon. Prince Zuko is very persistent in his quest and we already know that we are catching up to them, based on reported sitings."

Kali pondered what she would do once they found her sister. On the one hand, she would, of course, immediately reunite with her sister but after that, what then? The prince and his crew would be working to capture the people whom Masami appeared to have made friends with. Naturally, Masami would want to help them and so would Kali. But what about the fire nation soldiers? She had very clearly stated her position to Zuko and he'd continued to treat her distrustfully, which, frankly, was understandable. But Uncle and the rest of the crew had been kind to her and it stung to think of fighting against them. Somehow, it seemed like betrayal, though it had always been clear that she was only in this to find her sister and after that, owed them nothing really. But then again, they'd taken her in as one of their crew and, for the most part, accepted her. They'd provided her with shelter, food, water, and even a kind of comradery in return for her hard work around the ship. She supposed it all came down to who's side in the war she was really on. The side of the Fire Nation or the side of the resistance? Though she could technically claim Fire Nation citizenship due to her mother, she also could claim Earth Kingdom citizenship due to her father and to having been born there. She'd never really looked at herself as belonging to either. She'd always just...belonged to herself. But wait, no, that wasn't it. It wasn't the war that decided this. This was personal for her. Between her sister and the crew, she would always have to choose her sister. Masami had been her only friend for the longest time and they were closer than most sisters. But she was beginning to feel as though this were too complicated for her. While one part of her claimed firmly that this was the right thing to do in order to find Masami faster, another part cried that somehow this couldn't be right because she was beginning to become attached to this somewhat misfit crew. Perhaps it would be just as well if Zuko dropped her off at the next port after all...

XOXO

Upon returning to the cabin, the males were asleep, or appeared to be asleep. The girls said goodnight, and Katara urged Masami to take the bed. She nodded, and smiled, taking her spot back somewhere under Aang's flailed arms. She curled up on the edge of the bed, and she was soon sleeping again, despite the few bumps to the face from the Monk's limbs.

The next morning, Aang and Masami woke to the to shouts from the outside of the cabin,

"You can't be serious Katara!"

"You're mistaken Sokka, because I'm very serious!"

"I won't let you stay here!"

"Well, I'm sorry but I'm not leaving." With that, there was a slamming door, and someone going away from the cabin. Sokka stomped in, and Aang sat up,

"What's going on?" Sokka narrowed his eyes,

"What's going on? Katara wants to stay with that Jet kid, and I'm sure your probably going to tell me you two do as well, hmm? You seem fond of him, Aang, you gunna stay too?!" Sokka boomed, as Aang withdrew visibly, coming to rest slightly behind Masami's shoulder,

"That's not fair, Sokka. You can't be mad at her, or Aang. We can't help who we are attracted to, you shouldn't speak to her like that. She just wanted you to understand how she felt." Masami reasoned, Sokka scoffed,

"You knew and you didn't say anything?" Masami nodded,

"I didn't think it was my place." She said, looking him in the face. Sokka rolled his eyes,

"Bah, whatever, I'm going out." And with that said, he was gone. Masami hoped everything would go better for them. Not that it mattered, but with whatever happened, she had Katara's back. She glanced over at Aang,

"Are you okay?" She asked him softly. He nodded,

"I've never seen him that angry." Aang kept his voice low. Masami felt herself reach out, and rest a hand on his shoulder,

"It'll be okay, he just needs to cool down." She said softly, with a smile. Aang looked up at her, and he smiled,

"I hope so."

XOXO

Kali had finally finished all her tasks for the day. The crew and Uncle had enjoyed their meal and she had left Zuko's meal just outside his cabin when he had refused to open the door. She knew she was exhausted really. Like most days aboard this ship, she'd been kept quite busy for the most part. When she tried to go to sleep, however, she found herself too restless to do so, her mind filled with thoughts. She decided to walk it off. She could give herself a tour of the ship that didn't involve cleaning.

She walked through the engine room, noting the huge furnace burning the fuel, the nearby piles of fuel, and the pipes that ran throughout the room. Then she strolled along the different corridors, listening to the different sounds of the sleeping crew. Jee snored very loudly and Hadji and Balbo both whistled in their sleep. She heard Obi cuddling his little ginger kitty (whom he'd nicknamed Fireball) and Garron telling him to knock it off so he could get some sleep. Soon she passed by Iroh's room, where the snoring was even louder than Jee's. She continued on until she came to Zuko's room. The plate had been left untouched, the tea undrunk, and, to her surprise, the door stood ajar slightly. She glanced inside. He wasn't there. She looked down at the food, then glanced up and down the hallways. She picked it up, used a bit of fire-bending to heat it quickly (which felt refreshing, since she hadn't had a secure moment to practice since the day Masami'd joined the Avatar), then placed it on the desk inside his room. Even headstrong jerks needed to eat, after all.

Having finished her tour of the Shoeboat, as she was now fond of calling it, she headed up to the main cabin to see how Garrow was holding up. She supposed he must be really tired at this point. After all, he'd been doing this job the entire day with few breaks. She was surprised to open the door and discover Garrow missing. In his place, Zuko leaned against the wheel. He seemed to be too preoccupied to notice her quiet entrance, his attention focused intently on the course that lay in front of him. He also seemed to be holding a conversation with himself (either that or some invisible entity present in the room). She stood just inside the doorway, unsure of what to do exactly and listened.

XOXO

Masami and Aang ventured out of the cabin, Aang sticking close to her side. She hadn't seen him be like this before, but she also hadn't been around him much. He seemed rather lost in thought most of the time since Sokka had yelled at him. As they made there way down the ladders they landed on the ground. She heard another pair talking, though this time it sounded a lot more subtle.

"I'm sorry I acted like that Katara…I guess you wanting to be with him just caught me off guard. I…guess I can support you." He said. Masami smiled, and Aang looked at the direction of the group,

"Does that mean Katara wants to leave us?" He asked, his voice smaller then Masami had heard it yet.

"She feels she's needed here, Aang." Masami said quietly. He looked at her, and he seemed distant and sad, but he seemed to understand. He was the Avatar right? He had to understand responciblity, or so Masami figured.

That day came to a gradual close, and sun rose the next morning, bringing sorrowful goodbyes, and promises to see each other again soon. As they were leaving, Katara grabbed Masami's arm before she could walk toward Appa.

"Take care of Aang." She said with a smile. Masami nodded and smiled back,

"I'll do my best." With that, they exchanged knowing smiles, and said their own goodbyes.

XOXO

Kali stood motionless just inside the door, listening to Zuko and wondering whether she should leave or not. She knew she should leave now before he noticed her but curiosity seemed to be getting the best of her as she remained frozen on the spot. He was speaking very quietly to himself in a low voice so she could only just barely make out some of what he was saying. There was mention of making someone proud and (of course) the Avatar and ...and...obtaining mustard? What?! That couldn't be right. If he wanted mustard so badly, why wouldn't he just say so? It was a bit easier to obtain mustard than the Avatar after all. They could stop at the next decent market and she could probably find some mustard seeds...

She concentrated a little harder, eventually coming to the conclusion that what he'd really said was something more like "regaining honor," which made much more sense. At any rate, she eventually decided once and for all that she couldn't just stand there eavesdropping on his one-on-no-one conversation. She quietly closed the door behind her and started to walk away, then stopped abruptly. There was a part of her that always wanted to slap the prince across the face and demand to know what was wrong with him. This side usually dominated her feelings about him. But there was also a softer, subtler side that also wanted to know what was wrong with him, but from a much more understanding, sympathetic view. The prince had a chip on his shoulder the size of a flying bison and a scar the size of giant fist smeared across his face that she was fairly certain hadn't been put there by accident ("Oops, my bad! Lost control of my fist while I was fire-bending and...yeah, sorry..."). Surely there was something redeeming about him that kept his kind, loyal uncle by his side that she had overlooked. She knew it was a bad idea. To try to talk to him now (or anytime really) could be nothing but a mistake, it seemed, but she turned around anyway and walked back to the door.

She had just reached to open the door when it opened abruptly and Zuko ran headlong into her. For the second time that day, she found herself knocked to the floor thanks to him, only this time, he landed heavily on top of her.

"Oooff!"

"Ohh!"

He gave her an especially sour, slightly crooked scowl that he seemed to be cultivating just for situations such as this with her and said, in his usual cheerful voice,

"WHY DON'T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!" He then picked himself up and stomped off down the corridor, leaving her on the ground.

Yep, some day, she was going to end up snapping and smacking him across the face. She might regret it the moment after, but at the time, it would feel just awesome and, right now, she hoped there would be lots of people to witness it.


	3. Fish ain't meat

As a generalization, sleep came easily to Aang most nights. But tonight, he tossed and turned, his brow furrowed deeply. Masami watched him worriedly, as he had tossed so hard at one point he nailed her in the face with the back of his small, tanned hand. She jerked awake, and looked about, trying to figure out what had woken her. As a little moan came from Aang, she figured it out as he tossed again. He cried out lowly, and he was sweating. She didn't know if she should wake him or not, but before she could think about it, Aang jerked awake, startling Momo and waking Sokka.

"**Did we get captured again?!"** Sokka exclaimed, holding his boomerang and knife. Aang shook his head,

"**I didn't mean to wake you guys. I had a bad dream, don't worry about it."** He said sadly, and without another word lay back down.

"**Do you want to talk about it, Aang?"** She asked quietly, and he shook his head. This wasn't like him, and it bothered Masami greatly, but before she could get a word in, Sokka had shot up again,

"**You wanna hear about my dream?" **He asked hopefully. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow,

"**I didn't wanna talk about it anyhow."** He said as he dropped back down to his sleeping bag. She looked back at Aang, and his breathing was even and he was either sleeping or doing a good job of faking it. She sighed, and she lay down, returning to a light sleep herself. As morning came, and the camp was being packed up, she could see Aang talking to Appa, and she began to gather camp, and picked up their supplies, and noticed there was next to nothing as far as food went. She sighed,

"**We have to stop sometime soon, we have no food."** She said, and Sokka exclaimed,

"**My dream last night had to do with food! It ate us! And Momo, you said some very unkind things!"** Masami rolled her eyes, climbed atop Appa, with the others, and headed off towards a village to get some food. As clouds started to roll in, she got a bit nervous, but kept her pains to herself. A storm was just a storm, right?

XOXO

Kali leaned against the railing of the front of the Shoeboat. A cool breeze blew the smell of the salty sea in her face and fluttered her hair while the sun beamed down at her, warming her body. The day seemed perfect for sailing and she was thrilled to have a temporary break from working. Uncle had promised to teach her Pai Sho today, since she'd shown an interest and watched him play against the crew many times. Consequently, Zuko had given her half of the day off, thanks to Uncle's continued urging. She thought she understood the game pretty well at this point (well enough to know better than to gamble against Uncle on it). She liked thinking of him as Uncle rather than General Iroh. It just seemed to capture his personality better than a military title.

She smiled to herself. The breeze, the sun, the break from work, and the time with Uncle all put her in a great mood. She could even ignore the normal annoyance and tenseness she felt whenever Zuko was around. Even so, she still sensed some troubled feelings at the back of her mind and searched for their cause. Clouds appeared on the horizon of her mind as she remembered the source of discomfort. To stay or not to stay? She still needed to decide whether or not she should stay with Zuko's crew or not. And she was finding herself leaning more and more toward leaving as she grew more attached to them.

Zuko stood staring ahead through his telescope. Uncle arrived on deck and Kali looked at him anxiously, glad to see him. Pai Sho seemed like it would be a fun game to play and he was obviously a master at it so she was bound to learn a lot from him. Uncle smiled at her, then stopped. He sniffed the air, inhaling heavily, then frowned at the horizon.

**"There's a storm coming,"** he said, matter-of-factly,

**"A big one."** Zuko looked at him, obviously confused,

**"You're out of your mind, Uncle! There isn't a cloud in the sky!"** Uncle glanced at him,

**"There's a storm blowing in from the north. I recommend we head southward."** Zuko walked over to him,

**"We know the Avatar is heading north, so we will do the same."** Uncle looked up at him now, a worried look coming over his face,

**"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew!"** Jee strolled out of the ship's main entrance to the interior and stopped to watch them, a look of concern crossing his face.

**"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!"** Zuko said angrily to his uncle, then glared at the crew. Noticing Jee's expression changing from concern to open resentment, he narrowed his eyes and strutted across the deck to stand with his face shoved into Jee's face. Speaking in a low voice, he said,

**"Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual's safety."** He looked the crew over once more, stopping on Kali long enough to give her the look she now considered to be her own personalized version of his scowl, then stormed off inside, slamming the door behind him.

_Hmmm, maybe I should consider getting a patent on that scowl_, she thought oddly to herself, her good mood now busted by his spectacularly indiscreet show of selfishness, What would I call it? Zuko's Kali scowl? Specifically designed to put Kali in a bad mood whenever need be. She joined Jee and Uncle where they stood now.

**"He doesn't mean that,"** Uncle said worriedly,

**"He's just all worked up."** Jee's face revealed that he was unconvinced. Neither was Kali. Then Uncle turned to her, obviously anxious to change the subject,

**"So, how about we get started with that game of Pai Sho?"**

XOXO

As the trio landed in a town, they walked about, looking for some form of something to eat. They wandered off in a few directions, Aang walking with his head down. He wasn't himself still, and it was bothering Masami a lot. He hardly spoke, and she doubted he'd eat if she asked him to. He didn't want to bend recently. He just wanted to be left alone and sleep. He wasn't ever like this, and Masami wanted to know why. Her thoughts were broken as she heard some shouts come from another booth.

"**It's ripe I tell you!"** The shopkeeper argued. Sokka looked skeptical.

"**Then why does it sound like this?!"** He exclaimed, shaking some form of fruit around. Masami could hear swishing as she walked up.

"**I think that means its ripe, Sokka."** Aang urged half-heartedly from his side. Sokka scoffed,

"**We're out of money anyhow. Come on Aang."** He said, placing the fruit back down. Sokka received a swift kick the rear as they walked off. Masami had gotten food luckily, with much less of a fuss then Sokka seemed to be causing. They moved towards the dock, and as they ventured closer, they could see and hear an argument between an elderly couple,

"**My joints say there's going to be a storm! A bad one."****  
**

"**Well, it's your joints against my brain."****  
**

"**Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, cause I ain't comin!"**

**  
**** "Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get! How do you like that?"**

Sokka looked at Masami and Aang, and he took off towards the group.

"**I'll go, my friends and I need more money anyhow."** He said, looking back at them. They looked wary.

"**Maybe that's a bad idea, Sokka. What if there is a storm?"** Masami urged. She had promised Katara she would take care of them, and letting him get himself killed would be very much a failed promise.

"**Your both crazy! Women."** The old man scoffed. Masami pursed her lips as Sokka laughed; she turned her head away from them, crossing her arms. Aang then spoke,

"**Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky."** Sokka ignored him,

"**I said I was gonna do this job. I can't back out just because of some bad weather."** The old woman spoke again,

** "The boy with the tattoos has some sense. You should listen to him!"** The old man chimed in this time, after looking at Aang.

**"****Boy with tattoos? Air bender tattoos; well I'll be a hogmonkey's uncle! You're the Avatar, ain't ya?" ** He mused, in a different tone then he'd used before. Aang looked at the ground, and Masami spoke, somewhat snippily,

"**He is."** She turned her head back towards the men, and she looked down her nose at them, her temper starting to flare. She felt Aang's anxiety and she was getting irate. The man began to speak again,

"**The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years. You turned your back on the world!"****  
**

"**Aang wouldn't do that!"** Sokka urged, making the old man laugh.

**"Oh? He wouldn't, uh? Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering." **He said, poking Aang in the chest. Masami stepped ahead of Aang, quickly whipping a bit of water into the man's face, standing her ground,

"**I would watch your hands, and your mouth, if I were you, Sir."** She said, trying to keep her cool. While she stood between them, she felt a tug on her skirt, and she looked down to see a torn looking Aang, who before she could ask anything, took off towards the sky,

"**That's right, keep flying!"** The old man screamed, and Masami had had it. She sent another water whip in his direction, and she ran off towards Appa, never looking back.

XOXO

Pai Sho was a pretty awesome game, Kali decided. She and Uncle had spent a couple of hours playing the game before she'd had to leave to begin cooking lunch. Uncle had said she'd picked it up really quickly. She found it to be pretty fun and a good challenge since it was all about strategy. Uncle had already started teaching her different strategies to try and pointing out the various options the game allowed.

She had just finished the noodles when Garron came dashing into the kitchen.

**"Kali, c'mon! You don't want to miss this! I think Jee's gonna stand up to Zuko!"** He then dashed back out the door and Kali took the noodles off the stove and followed him hurriedly. This was real cause for both interest and concern. She wanted to see the response to such a challenge but she didn't really want to see anyone get hurt. She hastily walked outside just in time to hear Jee say angrily,

**"What do you know about respect?!"** and see Uncle Iroh behind him attempting to signal him to stop there. Jee took a step toward Zuko, who was facing away from him with his fists clenched.

**"The way you talk to everyone around her, from your hard-working crew to your esteemed uncle, shows you know nothing about respect!"** Zuko tensed, then swung around to face Jee, taking a fighting stance. Jee mimicked the stance and they advanced on each other. Their armor clanked as they held their arms against each other, steam and smoke beginning to rise between them as each tried to outlast the other. The rest of the crew looked on eagerly and Kali glanced from one hard face to the other, wondering who would win if this went any further. Fortunately, it didn't.

**"Enough!"** Uncle said loudly, forcing them apart and standing slightly between them,

**"We are all a bit tired from being at sea for so long. I'm sure that after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better."** Kali seriously doubted that. Jee stormed away and the rest of the crew followed him. Kali faltered and looked back in time to see Zuko shrug off Uncle fiercely.

**"I don't need your help managing my crew,"** he growled, stomping away towards the ship's prow. Kali looked up at the dark horizon ahead of them. Uncle Iroh had been right about the storm. Very right. She had a very bad feeling about this. And after a bowl of noodles, she still didn't feel better.

XOXO

The weather was taking a turn for the worse, and Masami was thankful Appa hand tracked Aang to a cave. She didn't want to have to worry about him being out in this. As she landed at the entrance, she shook her curls dry, or more dry then they were at present and went into the cave, looking for Aang. She found him, curled up, his face resting on his knees.

"**Aang?"** She questioned, getting closer. He looked at her, but he didn't speak.

"**That man was out of line."** She said, though he shook his head.

"**No, I did abandon everyone. He was right."** Aang said slowly. Masami shook her head.

"**I don't believe that."** She said, unloading a bit of wood from the side of the large bison as he toddled into the cave entrance, with Momo in tow. She piled the wood, and used flint to cause a spark. She put the rocks back into the bags, and she went and sat herself beside Aang.

"**I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar." **Aang began to speak, he spoke first of other kids like himself, and he spoke of air scooters. She could nearly see the next part she spoke of, more so then she had before. A council of monks, and them speaking to Aang,

"**How do you know it's me?"** Aang asked,

**"We have known you were the Avatar for some time. Do you remember these?"** A monk asked, pulling toys from his coat.

**" Those were some of my favorite toys when I was little!"** Aang cried, lifting one.

**"You chose them from among thousands of toys, Aang. The toys you picked were the four Avatar relics. These items belonged to Avatars past. Your own past lives."** The Monk told him.

"**I just chose them because they seemed fun."** Aang answered, in a small voice. Masami could feel her heart lurch at the idea of him finding out something so massive at such a young age. She couldn't imagine how that would make one feel, but she could hear the conversation continue as Aang did.

"**You chose them because they were familiar."** Another monk told hm.

**"Normally we would have told you of your identity when you turned 16, but there are troubling signs, storm clouds are gathering."** Gyatso told him, that name stuck out in his tale, Masami noted, as he spoke,

**" I fear that war may be upon us, young Avatar."** Another told him, and Gyatso finished,

"**We need you, Aang."** That was a truly powerful statement. One that rang in Masami's ears for sometime.

XOXO

Kali listened worriedly to the sounds of the storm pounding against the ship. She'd gotten over her overwhelming fear of the water for the most part after the flood, thanks, in part, to Masami's being a water-bender. But the ocean was still very much a menacing figure to her. Being thrown overboard into the sea and left alone to float with nothing but ocean around her, even if the sea was calm, was one of her greatest fears. The idea of the ship she was on sinking was almost as bad. She shuddered to think of the storm sinking the little shoeboat.

Finding herself shivering from chills going up and down her spine, she realized she was both frightened and cold. She walked down toward where she knew the rest of the crew was probably gathered around a fire. She quietly entered the room where everyone was huddled close to a steel barrel containing a fire. Everyone was looking at Jee, who was speaking angrily.

**"I'm tired of taking his orders and I'm sick of hunting his Avatar! I mean, who does Zuko think he is?!"**

"Do you really want to know?"

Everyone in the room, including Kali, who had just started down the stairs, turned, startled, to see Uncle Iroh standing in the doorway. Kali was surprised she hadn't heard him come in right behind her.

**"General Iroh, sir."** Jee stood uneasily,

**"We were just-"**

**"It's okay,"** Uncle interrupted him, calmly,

**"May I join you?"  
**

**"Of course, sir."**

Kali and Uncle pulled up chairs beside the already crowded circle around the fire. Uncle sighed as he sat down.

**"Try to understand. My nephew is a complicated young man. He has been through much."**

The crew stared at Uncle intently and the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the storm pounding the ship and the crackling fire. Kali leaned forward. Maybe she'd finally learn what exactly Zuko's problem was. Who knew? Maybe what she'd overheard him talking to himself about would make sense too after this. Uncle began his tale.

XOXO

Aang told Masami of how once he became the Avatar, no one was the same towards him. The other boys never let him play air scooter with them anymore, though he was the true inventor of the game. He was treated like an adult he was not yet ready to become. There was one ray of light in the entire situation for him, and his name, Masami soon became very familiar with. His name was Gyatso. Aang greatly admired him, and he was like a true father to Aang.

In her mind, she could see a skinny, elderly man, who great power. She could see the admiration Aang held for him, and love he held back for Aang. She could see one of the many times they played Pai Sho, and Aang losing, though he wasn't terribly upset. As Aang spoke of these times, Masami found herself smiling for a reason beyond her understanding.

As he went on, he seemed a bit more forlorn, and he continued,

"**Aang needs to have freedom and fun. He needs to grow up as a normal boy."** Gyatso argued,

**" Humph! You cannot keep protecting him from his destiny."** Spoke another monk.

**"Gyatso, I know you mean well, but you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment."** Eased another into the conversation.

** "I want is what is best for him."** Gyatso shot back.

**"But what we need is what's best for the world. You and Aang must be separated. The Avatar will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training."** Finished another monk. Aang's face fell as he went on about fleeing, and he mentioned a storm much like this one. He spoke of Appa falling in, and he didn't remember anything else, until Katara and Sokka found them. As he finished, he stood and began to pace.

"**How could they do that to me! They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" **Aang fumed, his head began to glow and he blew some of the fire around. Masami screamed lightly and Aang turned towards her, the glowing gone.

"**I didn't mean to do that."** He said slightly dejectedly, hanging his head. Masami shook her head, motioning it off.

"**No harm done."** She said with a smile. He slowly moved next to her,

"**I don't feel like anyone needs me."** He said, his attitude the same as before. She furrowed her brow,

"**That's not true Aang. What about Sokka, and myself? Katara too. Are we nobody?"** She reasoned, his head shot up, and he shook it furiously,

"**No! Your somebody, all of you."** He said hurriedly. She smiled.

"**See? There is at least somebody who needs you, and truly the world needs you, but you don't have to think about that right now, okay?"** She said quietly, looking him in the eyes. He smiled lightly,

"**Okay. I'll think about it…sometime! Another time!"** He said, bouncing back a little, much to Masami's happiness. He laid his head on her shoulder, and she put an arm around him, and he curled towards her lightly.

"**What's your story?"** He asked, his brown eyes imploring up at her, she smiled,

"**What?"** She asked, he smiled,

"**I told you about me, now what about you?"** He asked, if he wanted to know, she could tell him, and so she took a breath, and she began to speak.

XOXO

Kali sat quietly between Sal and Kahn and tried to imagine a cheerful, 13-year-old Zuko without a scar and with a normal hairline. It was very difficult. The crew sat solemnly, captivated by the tale Uncle was telling. When Zuko was 13, he'd wanted to sit in on a war council his father, Fire Lord Ozai, was holding. Since he was the heir to the throne, he felt it would be a good idea to start learning more about how things worked in the Fire Lord's chamber. Uncle had allowed him to accompany him into the chamber with the promise that he remain silent, in order to avoid offending any of the council members. Unfortunately, (go figure, Kali thought) Zuko had not remained silent.

During the meeting, the subject of a dangerous battalion of Earth Nation troops located in a key area had been brought up. One of the generals, older and evidently prestigious, had recommended sending in a division of young, relatively inexperienced soldiers against the hostile force. When another general had objected, saying that they would stand no chance against such a force, the first had replied that this was precisely his plan. While the enemy troops were focused on obliterating that one division, more experienced divisions would be sent to attack them from the rear, catching them by surprise and thus, defeating them. In other words, the young division would be sent on a suicide mission; an intentional sacrifice.

"You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?"

Zuko had stood, outraged. He'd challenged the general. Kali thought of the Zuko she knew. Cranky, selfish, displaying no sign of caring about anything or anyone other than his quest to capture the Avatar. Yet he'd stood angrily (there was something unchanged) once, in a fit of patriotism and genuine compassion, and striven to defend a division of soldiers against one of their own generals (a man who clearly outranked him). Kali felt her chest tighten and looked down to see her fists clenching hard on the side of her seat as outrage filled her as well.

"Zuko was right, you see, but it was not his place to speak out and there were dire consequences," Uncle said sadly, "After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's outburst was an act of complete disrespect and there was only one way to resolve this." Some of the men gasped and Uncle paused in his story to close his eyes wearily. Kali looked at the faces around her, wondering what the way was that Uncle was referring to and sensing that it must not be good. Finally, Jee spoke up, sounding as though he didn't want to believe what he was stating.

"Agni Kai. A fire duel."

Uncle looked up and nodded slowly. "That's right. Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see that it was not the general. Zuko had spoken out against a general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own father." There was silence for a moment again as they all took this in. Kali didn't know much about the ways of the Fire Nation or the Fire Lord, really, but she was sure the Fire Lord would have to be someone very powerful. Not only that, but to have to duel his own father! Kali shuddered, knowing how painful it would be to have to duel a family member. Not that her own father and she had ever had a relationship like family members, but she imagined Zuko and his father had. How could the Fire Lord do that to his own son?! The outrage grew within her and then frustration joined it as she tried to understand how such a system made sense.

"I don't understand," she said suddenly. Uncle and the rest of the crew looked at her as she stared at Uncle's face. "How does that work? Why would he have to duel the Fire Lord just because he was in his war room? All he did was disagree with (thus, evidently, disrespect) a general who outranked him. Why wouldn't the dispute stay between them? I mean, if someone 'disrespects' someone else in say, my house, it wouldn't be my fight to fight. I'd just want them to leave my house instead of fighting inside it. I wouldn't have any reason to fight the guy who was disrespectful. The disrespected person should be able to fight their own battles, shouldn't they?" She looked around, hoping she hadn't made a fool of herself but feeling strongly like she was in the right. Sure, she'd be mad if people starting acting up in her war room but then again, wasn't debate supposed to be part of what a war council was all about? And even if some young upstart challenged an old, experienced guy in her war room, let them handle it. Just make sure they don't handle it in her room and make a mess! She was comforted by some sympathetic looks and eyes that seemed to agree with her. Uncle sighed. "I agree, but unfortunately that's not the way the Fire Lord felt or the way things work in the Fire Nation. An act of disrespect against someone in the someone's house is automatically an act of disrespect to the host, regardless of who the disrespect was intended toward." Kali furrowed her brow and came to two quick conclusions. 1) Respect was a bit overrated if such a simple, seemingly innocent act caused this big of a problem. (After all, surely Zuko hadn't meant to disrespect his father.) and 2) that system was stupid.

XOXO

Aang looked up at her, his brown eyes shining expectantly. She smiled, and she began to talk,

"**I was born in a fishing village, that was really just a large group of what had been tribes. We lived near water, and many in our village were Water Benders, and when the men went off to war, I started to devote my life to Water Bending so I wouldn't be so useless. While Daddy was gone, he had an affair with a woman from…"** She faltered, Aang cocked his head to the side, then he seemed to understand,

"**From the Fire Nation?"** He asked, his voice very even, and nonjudgmental. She seemed shocked he picked up on it.

"**Your sister's a Fire Bender, huh?"** He asked. She nodded, diverting her eyes. She hoped she wouldn't have to mention this, but it would come out eventually.

"**Does that upset you? Where she came from?"** He asked suddenly, Masami looked back down at him, and smiled,

"**Not at all. She's my best friend, and what element she bends doesn't make a person who they are."** She said gently, with conviction. Aang smiled,

"**What happened when your father got back from war?"** He asked. Masami continued,

"**We picked up life as it had been, till one wet season when my village was wiped off the map by a tsunami. I was one of the only survivors, and the only one from my family to live. I began to fear water; I wanted nothing to ever do with it again. I was sent to live with my Grandfather, and it was under his guidance I began to bend again. Then after a year or so, I met up with Kali, after she was freed from a Earth Nation's prison, and she came to live with us. We began to travel, then we split up in the city with the pirates, and the rest is history."** She said with a smile. Aang started to speak, when the old woman from the town interrupted them,

"**You have to help them!"** She cried, most likely referring to Sokka and the old man, Masami would have said no way, but it was for reasons like that she was not the Avatar, Aang was. He ran to Appa without so much as a second thought, and he was hell bent on helping them.

XOXO

"Please, father, I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"

**"You will fight for your honor."**

"I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son."

"Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!"

"I won't fight you."

"You will learn respect and suffering shall be your teacher."

The words rang in Kali's ears as Iroh recounted Zuko's exchange with his father on the arena. She stared ahead, not really seeing, as Iroh told them of how the Fire Lord had scarred Zuko, then banished him from the Fire Nation. Her fingers had turned white from clenching the side of her seat and she felt as though she would burn up from all the anger she could feel boiling up inside of her. How could anyone do that to their son?! She didn't understand how you could treat your own child like that. Then again, she'd never really understood such things. Her thoughts went to her own father, then returned to Zuko as Uncle continued his story. The Fire Lord proclaimed that Zuko had shown shameful weakness for not fighting him. He'd declared that Zuko could only return to the Fire Nation and regain his honor by capturing the Avatar. How dare he?! Who was he to speak of shame and honor when he'd acted so cruelly and so unnecessarily? Zuko had acted dishonorably? Catbullshit!

She looked up as Jee said, "So that's why he's so obsessed. Finding the Avatar is the only chance he has of things returning to normal." Uncle shook his head. "Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope."

Suddenly, there was a loud crack, the sound of some horrific catastrophe occurring above them accompanied by a huge booming, and the ship shook.

XOXO

As Masami and the woman watched Aang fly towards Sokka and the arrogant old man from the cave, the woman spoke to Masami in a friendly tone,

"**You and that boy seem close."** She said. Masami smiled, shrugging lightly,

"**I guess."** She said with a shy smile. She would love to be closer then she was to Aang. She jerked her head up at the woman's next question,

"**Is he special to you?"** She widened her eyes a bit,

"**How… How do you mean?"** Her voice cracked. The woman smiled knowingly.

"**I see that he is."** She smiled wider when Masami tried to urge that he wasn't. She didn't know what the lady meant, but it made her feel strange, made her think of things she knew she shouldn't. She was too young to think like that.

"**He is brave, your love. Much like an Avatar should be, so I guess he is the real thing."** She said quietly. Masami's face was on fire, she dropped her face, and she spoke lightly,

"**He is very brave."** She couldn't bring herself to speak of the other things brought up. Her face remained down until she heard Appa returning towards them. She looked up as everything started to die down, and the group climbed off of Appa. She ran towards Aang, and threw her arms around him before she could stop herself. He smiled, rather shocked, and placed his head on her shoulder, wrapping an arm around her in return. She looked up as the woman spoke,

"**Oh, you're alive! You owe this boy an apology."** The woman scolded her husband.

"**He doesn't have to apologize."** Aang said from Masami's shoulder.

**" Mmm, uh, what if instead of an apology I give him a free fish and we call it even?"** The old man reasoned.

**"Actually, I don't eat meat."** Aang chimed again.

**"Fish ain't meat."** Reasoned the man, then Sokka spoke,

"**Seriously, you're still gonna pay me, right?****"** Masami giggled as they began to argue about it. Men. She then looked as Aang spoke,

"**I'm done dwelling on the past Masami! I'm not looking back again, or on those memories anyhow."** He said with a smile. She smiled back, and spoke quietly next to his ear,

"**I'm glad, really glad." **She said with a glance towards the woman, who smiled at her, and Masami felt herself smile wider, and she kissed Aang's head gently, as she stood and went to help the older couple back to shore.

XOXO

As the crew and Uncle rushed towards the door leading to the deck, they were joined by Zuko. Kali, Lieutenant Jee, and Zuko led the way as the burst outside into the rain.

**"Where were we hit?!"** cried Zuko. She heard Jee call

**"I don't know!"** She looked back at the upper part of the ship where Garrow would be, then yelled,

**"Look!"** She pointed and Zuko and the crew looked up to where they could see the main cabin wrecked and Garrow hanging from a piece of the rigging. "The helmsman!" Zuko shouted in alarm. He, Jee, Garron, and Obi rushed towards the ladders on either side of the ship leading up to the main cabin. Kali stood horrified on the deck watching them climb as the ship was rocked viciously by waves and lightning flashed all around them. Wind buffeted them all and water washed over the decks. Hadji, because of his light stature, was knocked over by one of the waves and began to slide past her. She and Balbo grabbed him and pulled him upright to keep him from falling into the sea. She looked back up in time to see Garrow fall.

**"Nooo!"** she half-screamed, then felt a sudden rush of relief as she saw Zuko catch him and watched Jee and Zuko help Garrow grip the ladder to climb down. As they began to climb down, lightning suddenly came flashing out of the sky right in front of her. She stood stunned as Uncle spread his arms, caught the lightning with one, and guided it across his body with the other to send it harmlessly landing in the sea. He looked a bit singed afterward but nonetheless, he had just bent lightning! She could feel that her jaw had dropped slightly and quickly pulled herself together as Zuko, Jee, Obi, Garron, and Garrow joined them back on the deck.

Suddenly she spotted something flying through the air.

**"Look!"** she shouted again and they all looked.

**"The Avatar!"** Zuko said, startled.

**"What do you want to do, sir?"** Jee asked him. After a pause, Zuko said,

**"Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety."** Kali knew she wouldn't be able to look at him the same way after this night.

**"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm,"** Iroh counciled, smiling. Garrow, Kahn, and Balbo rushed inside to work on turning the ship while the everyone else clung to the sides of the ship and struggled to keep anything from falling overboard and figure out where the eye of the storm was. Finally, Uncle spotted where it must be and sent Hadji inside to tell the others. As everyone else turned to head for shelter, a huge, powerful wave suddenly hit them full force from the side. Everyone but Uncle, who was already partially inside the cabin, was knocked off their feet and sent sliding across the ship towards the edge. Sal and Garron managed to scramble to the edge of the ship's upper half and use the wall to keep from sliding to far, while Obi held on to the opposite side of the ship for dear life. Kali slung herself sideways and hit the rail hard but managed to stay aboard. Zuko was not so lucky. He'd been knocked backwards and as he slid into the rail, he was catapulted over the side, screaming. The others rushed to the side while Kali clambered up to look over the railing after him. She searched the waters frantically until she found him struggling not too far from the ship. The horrific danger of the situation struck her inside with a huge cold fist. In that heavy armor with those raging waters, he'd never be able to make it! She stood for a moment, frozen. Then looked at the wall beside her where one of the lines for mooring the ship hung. Forcing herself to think only of the life at stake, she grabbed the line, found the flailing form in the foaming waters again, and flung herself overboard towards it.

She hit the water hard and felt the shock course through her as her body tried to deal with the icy water. She kicked up and managed to surface only to be knocked under again by a wave. Clinging to the line, she swam towards where she was sure she'd last seen the prince. Luckily, she'd dove very close to where he was and managed to find him. He was barely able to keep his head up and it looked like he was fighting a losing battle. She grabbed him and struggled to help him stay up, but it was no use. Between the waves tossing and pounding them and his armor, she wasn't able to make much difference. Her mind racing, she forced the line into his hand, clamped his fist around it and tried to shout,

**"DON'T LOSE THIS!!"** Then, coughing and sputtering from the water, she held his arm and pushed herself to his back where his armor was secured on to him. As she reached to undo it, however, a wave landing directly on them and pushed them apart, sending both of them under. She bobbed back up, yelled frantically,

"**ZUKO!"** then spotted what looked like his arm holding the rope a little ways away. She swam towards it and grabbed under it, catching him under the arms and lifting him up, coughing and gasping for breath. She reached down to where his armor was strapped and tied together again, knowing that if she didn't free him from it, they'd both drown. She gagged as water filled her mouth and she was pulled under once again, but she held on to his armor and forced first one strap, then the second strap apart. Zuko continued his fight to stay afloat, using the rope to hoist himself up, as she reached down to the third strap and then struggled to undo the two knots that still held the armor on him. Why do these damn things have to be on so well?! she thought, as a wave nearly tore them apart again, ripping the rope from Zuko's hands, as she wrapped her arms around him from behind desperately. Finally, the knots gave way beneath her fingers (which fortunately, possessed relatively long, sturdy nails) and she started pulling the armor off. Zuko understood and hastily discarded the heavy armor, handing the Kali back the rope as he exposed his bare chest to the wrathful sea. With the armor off, he was able to stay afloat much more easily and they searched for the lost rope, clinging to each other whenever a wave hit them. They could see the light from the ship shining in the dark and pulled themselves toward it. As Kali swam through the water, her fingers suddenly touched something rough and, spitting water, she shouted to Zuko excitedly,

**"I found it!"** The crewmen were pulling the rope, she could tell, and both of them clung to it as it slowly lugged them through the water towards safety. As they reached the ship and began to rise in the air, yet another wave struck them. Kali nearly lost her grip, one of her hands sent flying free away from the rope but before her other hand could give way, Zuko grabbed her free hand and returned it to the rope. Finally, they were hauled over the side of the ship and set down on the ground. Kali lay on the ground, still clinging to the rope, shaking from the fright and the cold. She felt as though she never wanted to be near water again. Never. But as she lay there, huddled against the rope with Zuko beginning to stand beside her, suddenly the ship was steadied and the air around them calmed. She looked up at the sky, which was suddenly a bright spot surrounded by the darkness they had just been in. They had reached the eye of the storm.

Zuko looked down at her for a moment then offered her his hand. Hesitantly, she took it shakily and allowed him to pull her to her feet. He stared down at her and, for once, didn't look angry.

**"Thank you,"** he said seriously, then, after a brief pause,

**"I owe you my life."** She stared back at him, gasping for breath and unable to speak as she was still recovering from the trauma of being overboard, then nodded and said,

**"Glad you're okay."** They looked up together at the sky. At that moment, a fuzzy white object flew out of the darkness above them. It was the Avatar, some other people, and the flying bison. Kali glanced at Zuko wearily, saw him tense up as he watched his prize sail away into the sky. She knew now that she would have to make a choice and that just now she'd made it much more difficult.


	4. Oh…I did not see this room was occupied

Masami, Aang and Sokka made their way towards the North, though they moved slightly slower then normal once Sokka had taken to being ill, his fever seemed to be brought on by the recent storm.

"**Aang, we have to do something about Sokka. He's not doing well."** Masami said, curling her fingers away from Sokka's soaked forehead. She hadn't ever dealt with illness well, and tended to shy away from those who were ill.

"**You know what I love about Appa the most? His sense of humor." **Sokka admonished, throwing his arms around a bit in the sides of his sleeping bag. Masami rolled her eyes,

"**I'm sure you do."** She said, looking at Aang.

"**We can't keep moving him or he will never get any better."** She said, coughing lightly herself. Her eyes widened,

"**Oh no. I'm going to die, Sokka's gunna die. I don't want to yet! I hate being sick! Sickness kills people! Oh! We can't leave you by yourself! This is terrible!"** She then dissolved into a coughing fit worse then any Sokka had had for hours. She tried to get ahold of herself when Aang touched her shoulders.

"**It's ok Masami! I'll get help! Stay here!"** He said, running towards his glider, then thinking against it and leaving it sitting beside the wall as a large clap of lightening sounded in the sky.

"**I'll walk."** He said with a smile as he ran off. She looked over at Sokka as he began to laugh.

"**Ahahahaha! Classic Appa."** She rolled her eyes, and pulled her legs closer to her,

"**Please hurry."** She whispered.

XOXO

The Shoeboat had stopped to make repairs after the storm. Kali strolled through the market, gathering supplies for when the ship next took off. The sun gleamed off her long black hair and she could feel her black bandana starting to become uncomfortable in the heat. She dismissed this as the norm though and thought about the conversation she'd had the night before with Uncle. She'd been planning to tell Zuko that she was going to quit and just find Masami on her own. She hadn't been looking forward to it, though she imagined he'd be just as glad to get rid of her probably. After all, he hadn't wanted her there in the first place, right?

She'd been surprised to find his room empty and even more surprised to note that the swords that should have been hanging on the opposite wall from the door were missing. Puzzled, she wondered what he needed the swords for when he could just as easily fend for himself with fire bending. She walked down to the cabin where she knew Uncle would be drinking his nightly cup of tea before bed.

**"General Iroh, I was wondering, do you know where Zu-Prince Zuko is? I need a word with him."** Iroh looked up at her, an look of surprise on his face.

**"Prince Zuko has taken one of the boats from the ship and gone ashore,"** he paused to consider her,

**"Is it something I can help you with?"** She looked down at him, feeling comforted by his gentle expression. Why not? She figured, After all, he's basically the one who hired me in the first place.

**"May I sit down?"** she gestured to the seat opposite him.

**"Of course,"** he said with a smile, mimicking her gesture. She took a seat then looked back at him unhappily,

"**I wanted to talk to Zuko about my position onboard."** She paused, then said,

**"I've decided that when we put in tomorrow to make the repairs, I should leave your crew. I'll find Masami on my own."** Uncle looked troubled,

**"Is it something we've done? Have you had problems with the other crew members? I know Zuko isn't exactly easy to get along with but surely he hasn't behaved that badly towards you."** She shook her head.

**"No, it's nothing like that, sir. The crew has been very kind, as have you...and Zuko's just...well, Zuko, I mean, Prince Zuko,"** she shook her head again,

**"I just feel like I'm...putting myself in a worse position than it needs to be."** She looked up in time to see understanding wash over Iroh's face.

**"You're loyal to your sister. And she is probably loyal, at this point, to the Avatar. You've been traveling with us in order to find her, but you fear now that once you reach her, you will have to choose whether to let her friend be attacked and possibly captured or to fight against us. Hmmm..." **he stroked his beard thoughtfully,

**"That is a problem..."** He looked down for a moment and Kali wondered what he would say next. She felt uneasy having been so up front about it with him, or rather, having him figure out exactly what she was trying to say. Then suddenly his eyes brightened and he looked back at her.

**"I've got it! We all know that you're looking for your sister and that Zuko is looking for the Avatar, which is why you're traveling with us in the first place."** She nodded. **"Whether you travel with us or not, you're still going to do whatever you can to find your sister and protect her and her friends, correct?"** She nodded again.

**"Well, so long as we all know how things stand, why shouldn't you travel with us? Either way, you're going to end up finding your sister and, either way, you'll end up fighting to help her and the Avatar."** Kali sat, slightly stunned by Uncle's logic. Basically, what he was saying was that he was automatically assuming Kali would find Masami with or without their help, so why not take advantage of their help and help them in return? Either way, Kali was going to have to make the decision to protect the Avatar for Masami's sake. Kali frowned. She wasn't convinced. Becoming even more attached to the crew (and Zuko, she thought unhappily) would only make things worse. Before she could reply to him though, there was a knock on the door.

**"Come in,"** Uncle said. Abruptly, half the crew spilled into his sleeping chamber.

**"You don't have to leave, Kali."** Obi was the first to speak,

**"We'd rather you stay, even if you are going to end up siding with the Avatar."** Garron nodded,

**"Who's going to laugh at all my pranks, even when they hit the prince?...by mistake,"** he added hastily. Hadji frowned,

**"Who's going to listen to all of my stories? You're the only one who ever bothers to actually listen to the entire tale!"** Balbo looked down at her,

**"We knew you were going to have to leave to be with your sister eventually and it makes sense really that if she's traveling with the Avatar, she's probably his friend."** Jee stepped in,

**"Obviously, no one here wants to have to fight you. We will...if the prince orders us too, but..." he frowned heavily down at her and glanced around at the others, **

**"...if you're going to be there anyway, we'd just as soon have you stay with us. You're a great cook and it's nice to have someone around who's, well..."**

**"Not a man,"** Adar finished for him. Jee looked at him awkwardly, then nodded. The rest also looked a bit awkward, but nodded their approval of his statement as well. Kali was both touched and embarrassed by this sudden outpour of sentiment from the crew. She felt a sense of belonging with them, something she'd only ever felt with Masami before, and hugged herself out of discomfort.

**"I don't want to fight any of you either...but I have to find Masami. She's the only one I've ever had who was there for me, really, and, if she's friends with the Avatar..."** she gulped,

**"Her friends are my friends..."** She looked at Uncle then looked down at her feet, suddenly aware of the uncomfortable silence as they all waited for her to make her decision.

**"I...well...if you all really feel like that...and Zu-the prince is okay with it...I guess I'll stay..."** She looked up at them warily and saw looks of relief. She couldn't help but smiling a little as Obi hugged her, Hadji winked at her, and they all left much more calmly than they'd come in. She turned to look back at Uncle,

**"Do you think Prince Zuko will be okay with that?"** Iroh shrugged, then smiled at her,

**"I'll talk to him about it. Hopefully, he'll handle it well."  
**  
Naturally, Zuko hadn't handled it well. He'd gotten back later that night and, in the middle of the night, he'd burst into her room, spewing flames and angrily shouting. She'd been startled awake by it and sat up to stare at him, wearing only a tattered old robe she'd borrowed from the storage closet, which hung very loosely on her. He'd stopped in the middle of his ranting after he'd run his eyes over her and said, obviously caught off guard by the situation,

**"I'll close the door. Get dressed fast. I need to talk to you."** After she'd dressed, she'd spent several more minutes just outside her door listening to him fuming and raging about her conspiring to keep him from capturing the Avatar after he'd let her on his ship and mutiny and what not. Finally, she'd cut in abruptly.

**"Does this mean you're going to kick me off the ship when we stop for repairs or are you going to consider letting me stay anyway?"** He'd stopped, given her the patented scowl, and then looked away. Grinding his teeth, he'd stood there for a while before finally looking back at her and shouting,

**"You can stay. But make sure you work even harder than before. If you're going to deliberately get in my way once we find the Avatar, then I want you working to your full worth while you travel with us."** He started to stomp off, and then turned back and got really close to her, his face shoved into hers like he'd done to Jee before the storm.

**"If you do get in my way...I won't hold back."**

Soon, Kali realized she'd finished getting all the supplies they needed, despite her daydreaming, and returned to the ship. The Shoeboat was looking much better now than when she'd left. Soon, they were able to leave. They hadn't traveled far before they were stopped by another ship. Soldiers came aboard and announced that the hunt for the Avatar had been given prime importance and that all information on the Avatar was to be reported to Zhao. When Zuko told them he had nothing to report and demanded they let the Shoeboat pass, he was told that Admiral Zhao was not letting ships in or out of the area, to which he responded angrily.

Later, as the ship remained floating in a location not far from where they'd been stopped, Kali watched from above as Zuko angrily shot fire blasts about and twirled fire in the air. She wished she could do that. But she still wasn't ready to confide in anyone about that, not even Uncle. Masami was the only person she'd told about that and she'd promised not to tell anyone. Being a fire bender without any definite allegiance to the Fire Nation was a very dangerous thing, she felt. Fire benders were no friends to the Earth Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom was her home. She watched as Uncle tried to calm his nephew and Zuko leaned against the ship's railing in despair. She finished cleaning the windows then and hastily went to clean something else. Not too long after that, she was scrubbing the deck when she heard the sound of the ship opening up and another boat being launched from it. She managed to reach the railing just in time to see Zuko piloting the little boat towards the shore. She stared after him for a moment, wondering what he was up to.

XOXO

Masami sat around, sniffling, feeling useless, and realized how much she was missing Aang, her sister, and how simple life used to be. Stupid pirates. Stupid shrunken head. Stupid everything! She sighed hotly, and turned herself away from Sokka who began to moan for water as she did. She looked to Momo as he poked at Sokka lightly,

"**Momo, go get water!"** She said, startling the little monkey a bit. She handed him her canteen, and repeated herself. He cocked his head to the side, and he flew off. She knew he didn't understand, but oh well; now maybe he would leave Sokka alone.

"**Do you love me?"** Sokka slurred. Masami looked at him with a mild eye roll,

"**Of course."** She said sarcastically.

"**I'm glad. What about Aang? Do you love Aang?"** He asked, her face went pink, spreading from her neck to her ears.

"**Oh, I dunno Sokka, I like Aang a lot. He's sweet. And all."** She said, scratching her head. Sokka snored lightly, and she brought her knees to her face. How did she feel about Aang? Did she regret meeting up with him, Sokka and Katara? No…she didn't think she did. She wished he would get back. She was beginning to get antsy.

As she started to fidget, Momo returned with a mask. She furrowed her brow,

"**Where did you even get this?"** She said, turning the mask over and over in her hands. She sighed, and she stood, Momo landing on her head as she began to walk off.

"**Watch him, please Appa.**"She said to the Bison. She took her canteen, and she made towards the water. There had to be some around here somewhere. She knelt near a spring, and she filled her bottle, and she made back towards Sokka. She fed him some water, and she laid near Appa, trying to get warmer. She fell into a restless sleep.

Masami looked around, wherever she was, it was dark and she didn't like it. She was alone, and the smell of sulfur was near her. She could tell by the ground moving beneath her she was on some sort of boat. She hated boats. She began to run, and she could hear a familiar voice calling for help. It sounded like Aang! She ran faster and she tripped, and she looked up to see a mask much like the one Momo had retrieved for her. She knew the face once she saw it! Fire Nation soldiers! She screamed, and she ran again.

_She could see Aang in a room now, far from her. She could also see another behind him, and she could see…Kali? She didn't understand. She started to scream when the one behind Aang removed his mask and put a knife to his throat, it was that scarred prince. She could see Kali reach for the prince's back, and him turn towards her. She was confused._

_Kali distracted the other, and she touched his scar, the boy recoiling lightly. She could see some form of connection between the two, but couldn't tell what it was. She was intrigued, but scared. What had he done with her sister? Did he love her sister? Would he care for her? She wanted to know, and before she could think, the scarred one raised his swords at Aang, and she winced, but she heard no signs of struggle, merely chains hit the floor._

With that, Masami jerked awake, so see it was nightfall nearly. How long had she slept? Momo had gone and returned many times it seemed, because she wore many artifacts she never seen before, including a large crown made for a king.

XOXO

Relieved that she'd finally finished scrubbing the deck, Kali moved on to her next task of cooking dinner. She put the fish on the stove to fry and set about chopping up vegetables for a salad. As far as she could remember, they hadn't had a salad since she'd been aboard, so she'd bought more vegetables when she'd gone into town today and decided a little change might be nice. Before long the food was ready and she could just hear the sound of music starting. She smiled, remembering. Tonight is Music Night! She hastily grabbed the food, dishes, and utensils and hurried out to the deck where the crew was huddled around a fire barrel and table. She set the salad, dishes, and utensils on the table and used a hot plate to place the fish on the edge of the fire barrel to keep it warm. As she took her seat between Adar and Sal, Uncle sniffed the air and grinned,

**"That fish smells delicious! And I see we have a salad tonight. You thought maybe some of us could use a bit healthier meal?"** He patted his belly and laughed. She smiled back at him,

**"I just thought a little change might be nice."**

As Music Night commenced, Adar, Sal, and Garrow pounded the drums and Jee played a lively tune on his pipa. It was an exciting war tune and Kali found herself moving to the beat, wishing she could join the drummers. They'd promised to teach her some songs if she ever had an extra night off. After that, Uncle began to sing a song called _"Four Seasons_", which was one of the crew's favorite songs to dance to. She watched as Balbo and Hadji danced together, while Garron and Obi danced nearby. They were funny couples but, as Adar had pointed out, there was certain lack of women aboard. She didn't know any dances, either. She felt herself nudged and looked up at Adar.

**"Want to give it a try?"** he asked, with a sly grin. She felt her cheeks grow warm and smiled back at him slightly,

**"I would but I've never danced before so I'd be a lousy dance partner." **

**"I'll teach you if you want,"** he said. She nodded,

**"Alright. I guess I can try, at least."** They stepped off a little ways from the other pairs and he moved slowly, explaining the dance to Kali. It wasn't too complicated so she managed to pick it up relatively well after a little practice. They moved closer to the others and danced for a moment before Balbo said,

**"Switch!"** The partners swapped and Kali ended up with Hadji. He smiled his nearly toothless grin at her and said,

**"We'll have to teach you some other dances some time. Which reminds me of this time I was in the capital city and there was a big dance. We were all invited and-"** Before he could continue, Balbo said

**"Switch!"** again and Kali began dancing with Garron.

**"You'll have to tell me that story some other time,"** she smiled back at Hadji. After she'd danced with everyone on the makeshift dance floor, the song ended. Lieutenant Jee handed his pipa to Uncle and began to sing a song about two lovers in the Earth Kingdom.

**"Two lovers, from one another  
A war divides their people and a mountain divides them apart  
Built a path to be together  
Through a mountain, through a war, two souls united beat as one heart**

Secret tunnel  
Secret tunnel  
Through the mountain  
A secret love  
Forbidden but real"

As the song continued, she found herself humming along with it. Jee had a great singing voice and it was a sweet song. After he'd finished, they all clapped and Uncle began to play the Tsungi horn. It was a smooth, calm tune that seemed to waft and echo through the air. Kali found herself stirred by its mournful quality and the entire crew sat hushed, listening to it. After Uncle finished, they sat in silence for a moment then applauded him. Soon, Music Night was over and the men went off to their respective rooms to get some sleep for tomorrow. Kali went down to Zuko's sleeping chamber with the remaining fish and salad and set them on his altar-like desk. She noted as she left that the swords were missing again. Whatever he was doing, he must not want people to know he was a fire bender. That seemed like the only explanation she could think of. It seemed rather uncharacteristic for Zuko, but, no doubt, he had his reasons.

It was not too much later that he returned to the ship and Kali heard him tell Uncle he was going to bed and that there were to be no disturbances. She glanced up from where she was washing dishes in time to see him walk past the doorway carrying a bunch of clothes. What was hidden from most perspectives and what she was able to just barely spot between the clothes were the tips of the swords and something else. The edge of what appeared to be a blue mask shown through just barely as he walked briskly past the kitchen. She looked back at her dishes and thought for a moment. Obviously, he'd wanted his entire identity hidden, not just his identity as a fire bender. Now why would Zuko, a proud prince (despite his banished status), want that?

XOXO

Masami couldn't rest easily this night. She was in and out of sleep, and her dreams made sleep no easier.

_Sokka, Aang, Momo and Masami moved around the darkened foyer of the structure they had snuck aboard. The boys seemed to know where they were, but she was at a loss. She could hear people talking, and one of the voices stuck out as being familiar, though she didn't know from where. She watched as Aang motioned for her to follow him into a room, and Sokka moved after them. They pushed open the door, and they could see a couple, lips locked with their backs to them. Aang thought nothing if this apparently, and moved into the room to seemingly look for something. _

_Masami took a second to note the couple, and saw they had made an appearance in several of her dreams. It was the scarred boy, and Kali! She was beginning to seriously question the impression she was getting from them. Before she could think anymore, Sokka entered the room, and nudged her in the side,_

"_**Oh, yip yip."**__ He said with a grin. She shook her head, and she saw the Prince's hand begin to move up her sister's body, and under the back part of her shirt. She wanted to say something though another interruption caught her off guard. The tubby man they traveled with burst though the door, screaming about something Masami didn't understand. _

"_**Oh…I did not see this room was occupied."**__ He said with a smile, until more of the crew came into the room, playing a wide variety of instruments, including a Tsungi horn. Masami stumbled back, and the couple never broke apart. As she started to scream, she heard a voice that sounded like Aang say something,_

"**Suck on these, they'll make you feel better."** Masami opened her eyes as something cold started to be warmed. As she realized it was a frog, she spit the animal out, but did notice she felt better. Aang collapsed on the beaver tail attached to Appa, and he turned away from them, making Masami's forehead furrow as Sokka spoke,

"**How was your trip, Aang? Did you make any new friends?"**

"**No, I don't think I did."** He mused sadly, making Masami wonder, but she would wait till later to ask him.

XOXO

The tale of the Blue Spirit soon spread all around the Earth Kingdom. It got to the point that it was treated as a legend practically and people all over wondered who the Blue Spirit really was, what his motives were, and whether he actually existed. While the rest of the crew of the Shoeboat came up with many theories and wondered about him as much as anyone else, Kali kept relatively quiet about it, smiling inwardly. She knew the Blue Spirit was real, knew who he was, and didn't doubt that she knew what his motives were. She also found that she knew why Prince Zuko had wanted to hide his identity a few nights ago, as well as where he'd been and what he'd been doing. She suspected his uncle probably had much the same ideas as she did about Zuko and the Blue Spirit. He also avoided throwing many theories around and appeared to have noted the day Zuko had decided to clean his "merely decorative" swords. It'd been a couple days after the Blue Spirit had appeared. Kali wondered if he'd ever reappear.

She finished serving cleaning the breakfast dishes and walked down to where one of the various storage closets was located. Once again, Zuko was having her mop_. He must really want to keep me busy if he's having me mop again already! _She thought. _What, does he think I won't be able to think while I'm cleaning? Or maybe he figures somehow that if I mop, I'll have less time to cause trouble? Why would I want to do that anyway? Or maybe it's just some manner of unjust punishment that makes him feel better or something.  
_  
She groaned inwardly and opened the little door. It was a tiny room, barely big enough for one person to fit in comfortably. Of course, why would someone go inside in the first place? It held a series of mops, brooms, pails, and other cleaning supplies. She heard footsteps and looked up to see Zuko coming down the hall. She scowled back at him and pulled out a pail and mop.

**"So, prince. Why is it that I'm mopping the ship now again? After all, I mopped it only a day or two ago. Surely, you can't have gotten it all that dirty since then?"** He raised his eyebrow and stopped to face her as she leaned on the mop in front of the closet.

**"You're mopping it again because I ordered you too. I don't have to explain myself to you. You're just an Earth Kingdom peasant who's lucky enough to still be on this ship. Now,"** he Kali-scowled,

**"I suggest you get to work."** He turned to leave.

That would have been the end of the conversation and she would have begun her mopping then, had not the mop still been damp. Proving her point, it was still wet from the previous mopping, as was the pail. Both had leaked a thin layer of water onto the floor beside her. So when Prince Zuko turned to leave, unfortunately he managed to step on the wet spot. And, because, evidently, the universe hated both of them, the ship shifted at that moment causing him to slip and fall toward her, turning to face her as he did so. Naturally, they fell back into the closet that was only big enough for one person to fit comfortably. And, just because the universe hated them that much, the door slammed shut and locked behind them. So they stood, crammed face-to-face in the tiny room, barely able to move, and found themselves unable to leave. Realizing they were trapped as she tried the knob unsuccessfully, Kali groaned and looked at where she knew the prince's face was.

**"So much for my mopping..."**

XOXO

As the group moved from their stopping point, the day was nice and Masami was glad to be outside, and happy to see Aang had bounced back. Perhaps he has just been tired yesterday? She knew it happened to the best of them, and he was more then entitled to have a bad day. She didn't want him to be sad though, she wanted to do anything in her power to keep him from being sad.

Masami moved ahead of the group a bit. She kept her head up, and she found a nice spot to stop, and she dropped her stuff, and she took a seat on a rock. She began to flex herself a bit, and she looked out over the water. Behind her, Aang fidgeted lightly. Sokka stopped as well, and began to look around in the bag. She looked as a fish hopped from the water, she giggled lightly.

"**He is taunting us. Hey! Where's the fishing line?"** Sokka asked. Aang looked about, nervously.

"**Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka."** He said, looking at his hands.

"**Aang! it's all tangled!"** Sokka shot back.

**"Not tangled, woven."** He said, glancing down at the necklace again. He looked towards Masami, and he blushed lightly.

"**You stole fishing line to make her something?"** Sokka admonished. Aang scuffed at the dirt beneath his feet. Sokka sighed, and took a spear towards the water, and began hunting the fish who had "taunted them". Aang made over towards Masami and the rock.

"**Hey Masami?"** He asked nervously. She turned towards him, and smiled,

"**Yes Aang?"** She said with a smile His face began to redden a bit. He offered his hand to her,

"**I made you this, I hope you like it. I know it isn't much, and I don't even know if you like jewelry but just thought maybe this would look good on you."** Aang babbled as he opened his hand and revealed a little woven necklace, with a rather braided looking design, which lead into a flower. The flower looked to be a rose, which she didn't know if he knew it or not, were her favorites.

"**It's beautiful Aang!"** She said, sliding off the rock. She took it gently from his hand, and she placed it around her neck as Sokka spoke from the lake, holding onto the fish.

"**Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love." **Sokka declared. Aang blushed, Masami giggled, and she fixed the necklace around her neck. As they started to bicker a bit, a man spoke from behind them, and they saw him being attacked by a platipusbear! They ran towards him.

"**Hello there!"** He said as the bear swung. Masami didn't know what to do. The boys started to yell different things for him to try. Masami wanted to panic. She could hear the blood in her ears, but as soon as the scuffle started, Appa roared loudly and it stopped. The man thanked them, handed Aang something, mentioned a Woo of some sort, and was gone before she could calm herself enough to her anything.

"**Let's go get our fortunes told!" **Aang said as he bounded off before anyone could say anything otherwise.

XOXO

Kali had been wrong about the closet. It wasn't even big enough for one person to fit in it comfortably. And now there were two people crunched in it, one of them wearing rather hard armor. The prince attempted to fire bend his way out, the fire flashing on and off, leaving her seeing spots. When that didn't work due to his lack of ability to move, he said,

**"Move back then stay still, I'm going to break this door down."** She rolled her eyes and said,

**"I'd love to move back, your Highness, but as it is, all I'm at liberty to do right now is stay still so I can only obey that bit of your orders." **Just to make a point, she wobbled her head what little she could and wiggled her arms and legs where she could. For the most part though, she couldn't move at all and she knew he couldn't either. She heard and felt him as he struggled to knock backwards against the door and was about to say something when he attempted to lunge backwards. The air was knocked out of her as she was slammed even more against the closet wall and Kali's face turned hard as she felt something stab her hard in a rather private area.

**"That'd better be your armor down there,"** she growled at him fiercely, figuring as she said it that it must be. The prince stiffened and, even in the dark, she could sense his uneasiness.

**"Of course it's my armor,"** he growled back.

"**Good,"** she replied,

**"Because it's awfully sharp and painful. I'd pity any girl who had to deal with it if it wasn't armor."** He adjusted back to his previous position abruptly and she breathed a sigh of relief. Well, at least they knew the full extent of how much they could move now.

**"Well what now, 'sir'? I suppose we'd better call for help, hadn't we?"** There was a long silence as he seemed to ponder her question, perhaps looking for a good retort. Finally, he managed,

**"Yeah, I guess."** They began shouting loudly, calling for someone from the crew to help them. Over and over again, they yelled and even screamed at the top of their longs (Zuko, though his voice could be quite high pitched, wasn't willing to cross the line to scream. Kali wasn't much more willing but tried a couple of times anyway, mainly to annoy Zuko). Still, nobody came. Finally they got tired, their voices hoarse, and they grew silent. She could feel his breath heating her face. It smelled like cinnamon, surprisingly, and she tried to remember if she'd cooked anything with cinnamon in it recently. The rest of him smelled more like a campfire. She supposed that made sense but it was kind of nice in a strange sort of way. Maybe because it reminded her of better memories. Kali thought about what he'd called her earlier. He'd said she was "just an Earth Kingdom peasant." How wrong he was. She had more in common with him than he could possibly know.

XOXO

The group moved slowly towards the city where the strange man had come from. They didn't know what to expect, but as it stood, the town seemed normal, except for one thing. Every aspect of their lives revolved around what this woman said. So she must have been something special. Sokka didn't like the idea of her, but Aang seemed to think it'd be a fun stop Masami didn't care either way, so they were on the way to see what the Woo from this woman was.

So as it turned out, the woman's name was Wu. Who woulda guessed that? (Not Masami, this is why she realized pay attention was a good thing.) She looked as someone near them spoke,

"**Aunt Wu is expecting you."** He said. They nodded, and headed towards the direction they were pointed at. As they entered the establishment, a cute girl who introduced herself as Meng greeted them. Masami watched her warily as she began to throw herself at Aang. For a second time that day, Masami felt the blood rush to her ears, but this time it was due to anger. What was wrong with her? She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Sokka speaking to her,

"**Do you wanna see the woman first?"** He asked dryly. She nodded; she wanted to get away form the Meng girl as fast as she could, before she said something she'd regret.

XOXO

They stood, breathing into each others' faces and trying to ignore how close they were and the fact that their bodies were getting cramps from the uncomfortable positions they'd been trapped in for what was probably hours now. They'd said nothing to each other since they'd had to quit yelling and Kali had reminisced about her life before Zuko and before Masami even.

The little dark-haired girl sat next to her mother in the prison cell. It was a rather hastily constructed prison made out of wood and the sun shown through the bars. Her mother was explaining to the girl, who was around 4 or 5, how this had all come to be. She, Lucia, had come over with a group of Fire Nation settlers to populate a new colony in the Earth Kingdom. Things had gone well initially, with the town soon prospering. A few months after they'd built it, however, they'd been attacked by a large band of Earth Kingdom troops. Outnumbered and overpowered, they'd been captured, the town destroyed, and all firebenders had been killed. Since then, they'd traveled far and the Earth Kingdom commander in charge of the troops, whom the prisoners referred to as Commander Crusher (due to how he reacted to any prisoner who opposed him), had ordered a prison be built to house the prisoners in a secure location. Short on metal, the Earth Kingdom troops had been forced to build the prison primarily out of wood and save the metal for shackles. Since then, more prisoners had been added as more colonies were overrun. During this time, Lucia had met a young Earth Kingdom soldier who seemed to take a fancy to her. His name was Dagan and, as the months had worn on, he'd shown more and more interest in her. Lucia had encouraged it, hoping perhaps to win her freedom through him. Many of the Earth Kingdom soldiers had been glad to have their way with the captured women, but Dagan seemed a bit different. He'd almost appeared to be courting her through the bars. But unfortunately, it was not to be. Their relationship had culminated in a one night stand and then Dagan, horrified at having violated his marriage vows, had requested to be transferred from the camp. Not long after that, she'd heard he'd been sent home to the small village where he had told her he had a wife and child. Nine months after their night together, Kali had been born. Unfortunately, Kali's birth had given away that Lucia had slept with a man not of Fire Nation origin, because Kali had been born with one golden eye and one deep blue eye. Lucia had been questioned as to the identity of the man she'd slept with and had simply reported that he'd come in the night and she hadn't been able to see who it was who had raped her. The soldiers had accepted this and allowed Lucia and Kali to live, regarding Kali with even more distaste than the rest of the prisoners. The other prisoners, put off by this at first, had eventually come to accept Kali as one of their own. Kali could picture herself as the little child taking all this in and trying to understand it while her mother smiled down at her. She'd hugged her tightly, telling her she was a blessing to her, the dearest treasure she could have hoped for in such a time of dread.

Kali frowned and came back to the current reality as she felt the prince shift restlessly. "So, any new ideas about how to get us out of here, your Highness?" She could imagine the scowl. "No," he said hoarsely, "Maybe you should try coming up with some since it's your fault we're in here in the first place." Now it was her turn to scowl. "My fault?! How's that? You're the one who fell into me!" "I wouldn't have slipped if you hadn't gotten the floor wet with that mop of yours right where I was walking!" "Well it wouldn't have been wet if you hadn't had me mop like the day before and then ordered me to mop AGAIN for NO REASON!" He paused then muttered, "Maybe if you weren't planning to make things harder for me once we find the Avatar, I wouldn't give you so much work to do." She tried to look away from where she knew his face was but didn't have the room for it. "Well, you didn't have to keep me on your crew if it bothered you that much...I can understand why it would...So why did you keep me on then?" The question hung in the air between them. A staring contest in the dark was hard to judge but Kali was pretty sure she'd won as the prince let out a heated sigh which briefly lit their faces. "I'm not sure," he growled. They fell back into silence.

XOXO

Masami swallowed, and she followed the leader into the room where an older woman sat before a fire. She walked cautiously over towards her, and she sat. The woman smiled,

"**I am Aunt Wu."** She said, Masami smiled lightly, still a bit nervous,

"**I'm Masami."** She said. The woman smiled again, and nodded to her, holding out a bit of something Masami soon realized were bones.

"**Choose one, please."** Aunt Wu said. Masami bit her lip, and she looked into the container, reaching in and pulling out one that had a small bit hanging of off it. She held it out to the woman, who then nodded, took the bone and tossed it into the fire. As it burned, they made small talk, Masami slowly starting to warm up. She hadn't ever done anything like this before, but it couldn't hurt anything. As she looked at the fire, Aunt Wu spoke to her,

"**What do you want to know of? Lovers? Fortune?"** She asked gently. Masami looked at the ground. She always wondered if she would fall in love. Better relationship then her parents had. She had been around nothing but doomed relationships her entire life…was that the case for her too? She looked up slowly, and asked warily,

"**My love life…is it doomed to fail?"** She didn't know if she wanted to know the answer, but at the same time, she knew she had to know.

XOXO

Kali was getting very anxious and she could tell the prince was too. They'd been here for a long time now. A LONG TIME...and she REALLY needed to visit the little girls' room. Very much so. By now, neither of them was able to move anything well at all (what little was available for movement) due to cramped muscles. So they stood like frozen statues in the darkness. After a while, Kali decided to break the tension once more. Since they were there, what harm was there in small talk? They'd been quiet for the majority of the time and frankly, the silence was getting on her nerves in a major way. Besides, she desperately needed a distraction.

"So..." she said awkwardly, "Why the Avatar?" She already knew why, of course, but she wanted to hear it from him. He didn't answer but his breath quickened at the mention of the name. She waited for a moment then asked again, "Well? After all, I'm on your crew and kind of helping you in a way. You know why I'm looking for him. My sister's with him and she's my only relative and friend really," she paused, "So what's your reason? It's not just cause you're from the Fire Nation, that I'm sure of." She waited again but he still didn't answer. "Oh, sorry, " she said a bit sarcastically, "I didn't realize you had more pressing matters to attend to while you're trapped in a closet which shouldn't even be occupied by one person, let alone two. My mistake, prince, I'll leave you to your princely thoughts, whatever they may be." Abruptly he spoke, "Because capturing him is the only way I can get back my honor." She knew she shouldn't joke about this sort of thing, especially not with him, but she couldn't help herself. "Why, did you lose it somewhere?" He stiffened then replied in a fierce whisper, "Yes. I lost it when I was banished." "Why were you banished?" she whispered back, feeling her voice straining still from their last attempt to call for help (they'd tried several times now). For a long time he didn't answer and she figured she must have pushed him too far and left it alone. Finally, he said, "I was banished for disrespecting my father...I never meant to offend him but I made a mistake and now I'm paying for it..." he paused, "Father's teaching me a lesson." The way he said it frightened her. He sounded as if he truly believed the punishment to be just. She tried to think of a good response but all she could come out with was "That's awful."

"How long have you been away from the Fire Nation?"

"Almost 3 years now."

"You were banished when you were 13?"

"Yeah."

"...What'd you do that was so disrespectful?"

"..."

"..."

"I spoke out against someone who outranked me. I should have thought about where I was and who I was with but I didn't."

"Was it your father?"

"No."

"Then how'd you disrespect him."

"It's complicated. You wouldn't understand."

"You're probably right. Sounds stupid to me."

"What?"

"Well, shouldn't the guy you spoke out against take it up with you if it was so important? It was him who you disrespected, not your father? Couldn't he handle his own insecurities or did he need your father to protect him from your bullying?"

There was a stunned silence.

"Well, we were in my father's war room, so-"

"So what? It's still between you two, isn't it?"

"Well yeah but-"

"But what?"

"But that's the way it is."

Another long silence.

"My father was offended because I disrespected a superior in his room. So it became...his problem."

"So he just banished you?"

"No...he-I-we had a duel. Or we were supposed to. But I didn't want to fight him so I refused and then..."

Her whisper was even quieter than her previous whispers had been. "He scarred you."

A silence and then suddenly, the door behind him was flung open. Light flooded the closet blinding them and they tumbled out of the closet to the sound of rumbling laughter as two of the crew looked down at them.

"Hey everybody, come have a look at this!"

The other members of the crew and Uncle gradually all came rushing in as they were summoned by Adar and Garron.

"Ha ha, well what do we have here?!"

"I guess the prince decided he needed some relaxation and fun for a change!"

"Wanted some favors from him, did you, Kali?"

"Now that's the ultimate to kiss up to someone!"

"With the armor on and everything! Whew, what a way to go!"

"Must have been pretty hard on ya, eh?"

"I have always said tea is the best cure for soothing the nerves, but I suppose that works too."

Both of them struggled to move from their previous positions amidst the chortling and jokes but found themselves aching terribly from the strained, cramped muscles. Motivation got the best of them though eventually and they were soon sprinting down the hallway together, headed for the nearest bathrooms.

XOXO

Masami looked at the woman intently. Aunt Wu smiled fondly at her, seeming like she could see the insecurities built up in her. She shook her head,

"**The Bones say no." **Masami was floored. She could actually have a normal life?! She looked at her, and she spoke slowly,

"**Can you tell me more about my future then?"** She asked, pulling her lip between her teeth. Aunt Wu smiled, and continued,

"**You will marry a great bender, strong and poised. You will become a master of your own element as well, and then you will compliment each other very well. You will go through many trials together, and it will only strengthen the relationship you have, till one day you will wake up, and see a different person then you had the day before. This person will be the powerful bender I've seen before."** She said, looking at Masami's glazed over look with amusement.

"**Is there more?"** Masami asked, excitedly. Aunt Wu nodded,

"**I see fire, and many strong family connections. You will have nieces and nephews, and when it comes to them, I see more fire. I see more children, and I believe these are your own, with the powerful bender I spoke of before."** Masami smiled wider. Family connections? Fire? Perhaps she would be reunited with Kali after all, and from the sound of it, things would work out for both of them.

"**The people you see with the fire…what do they look like?"** She asked, chewing her lip again. Aunt Wu furrowed her brow,

"**I cannot see much, but one is scarred…and the other, the other, her eyes. There is something about them."** She said. Masami smiled, and nodded.

"**They're two different colors, aren't they?"** She said, and Aunt Wu seemed to have an epiphany, and nodded. Masami was glad, really glad.

XOXO

Zuko had ended up ordering them not to make any more jokes. After he and Kali had relieved themselves and then recovered from what had turned out to be nearly a five hour event in the closet, they'd been constantly tormented by the crew, as well as Uncle. Non-stop jokes about her lighting Zuko's fire and how that explained the screaming they'd thought they'd heard.

What was worse for Kali was that Zuko blamed it all on her. Somehow, in that strange, confused, angry mind of his, he'd twisted it around and convinced himself that it was all her fault. Consequently, he was once again in a very foul mood with her and kept her workload as heavy as it had been and even made it so that she had to work during the next couple Music Nights. Thus, things were as if they'd never had that conversation about his banishment and scarring, though Kali still thought about it sometimes. But mainly, she just looked for ways to subtly annoy the prince as a means of revenge for blaming her and robbing her of her precious Music Nights.

One Music Night, as she was lamenting over the work she'd have to do instead of joining in the fun, she suddenly had a great idea. It seemed appropriate and fun and she couldn't wait to see his reaction. Hopefully, it would annoy him. After all, he didn't really have a sense of humor for the most part and getting him angry was really easy. She smiled to herself as she finished stirring the noodles.

XOXO

As Masami exited the room, she ran straight into Aang, whose little face was as red as some parts of his cloths. She furrowed her brow,

"**Aang, are you feeling okay?**" She asked in a concerned manner. He nodded vigorously, and he ran off towards somewhere else. Masami furrowed her brow further, and shook her head. Strange boy he was at times.

As Aang ran, he ran towards Sokka. He looked at him, and he made sure no one was listening, but before he could say anything, a crowd began to gather, and he was forced away from Sokka, but he collided with Masami, and nearly knocked her over. She fell to the ground with an "oof." Aang looked panicked, and he reached for her, pulling her up.

"**Are you okay?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."** He said, looking towards the ground. She waved it off, smiling.

"**No harm done…what's going on?"** She asked, looking over the crowd. A man told them that Aunt Wu was going to make a prediction about the fate of the volcano and the village this year. They nodded, and all grew quiet as she came out. Aang fidgeted a bit, and he could hear Aunt Wu's words in his head_…"_**_ till one day you will wake up, and see a different person then you had the day before". _**He could lose her to some powerful bender if he didn't say something soon! He chewed the back of his mouth, and he realized he didn't even hear the prediction, but as everyone cheered, he blurted out,

"**Masami, I think I like you as more then a friend!"** But the confession fell on deaf ears.

XOXO

Kali walked down to Zuko's room, carrying his plate. It'd taken some extra time to fix the noodles today but they'd turned out nice. She strolled into his room casually without knocking just the way he hated for her to do and set the plate down in front of him on his altar. He had been meditating and, consequently, looked up at her with his usual special scowl. Surprisingly enough, though, he said nothing, content to simply glare at her fiercely as she turned her back to him.

After a moment of angrily glaring at the door still, he turned and looked down at his plate. Staring back up at him was a smiling face with a arrow on its head. The Avatar smiled at him with an overwhelmingly cheerful noodle smile. Next to his face, written neatly in spices, were the words, "Eat me, Prince! I'll turn that frown upside down! Cause I'm the Avatar and I can do anything!"

Kali giggled loudly from where she stood behind the door as she heard the angry "ARRRRREERRRRR!!!" and the sound of exploding fire and a smashed plate. She was going to be in big trouble, but it was worth it, she thought as she hastily ran back toward the kitchen.

XOXO

Masami looked towards Aang, and he looked away quickly. She furrowed her brow, and spoke,

"**Did you say something?"** He shook his head,

"**I didn't say anything."** He said with a sad smile. She noted the smile, but looked back towards the crowd's front where Aunt Wu spoke that the town wouldn't be destroyed this year. This town really did rely on this lady a lot, didn't they? Masami thought it was sweet. She subconsciously brought her hand up to the necklace around her neck when she thought of relying on people. She had become very attached to Aang recently, and she came to think of how much she relied on him, as this town relied on Aunt Wu.

As the night ended, and the next day began, Sokka nor Aang were no where to be found. Though, on the Sokka part, that was fine by her. She had had enough of him bringing down this town, and belittling Aunt Wu all night. He had such a mouth on him sometimes, but before she could think again, she was grabbed from behind,

"**Masami! The Volcano! It's going to erupt!"** Aang screamed, causing her brow to furrow,

"**But Aunt Wu..-"**

"**Forget what she said! We saw it!"** Sokka elaborated. Her brows knitted together,

"**How can I believe you Sokka?"** She said, starting to cross her arms, before Aang spoke again,

"**I saw it too! You believe me, don't you?"** He said, his voice so small. She nodded,

"**Yes, Aang, I believe you."**

XOXO

Zuko hadn't done anything about it yet other than yell at her and quite frankly, Kali was concerned. Not adding chores to her ever-growing list seemed strange for him. Hopefully, though, he was just too focused on the Avatar to bother coming up with more creative punishments for her. She already worked late into the night and started early in the morning with all the stuff he had her doing. Honestly, scraping scum and barnacles off the sides of the ship whenever they stopped at port? How was that part of the cook's job? Then again, mopping didn't have much to do with cooking either. She supposed she was just the do-whatever-the-prince-orders-person really. Hmmm, how would one go about listing that properly on a resume?

She frowned and continued down the hallway sweeping. As she did so, she heard a sound coming from the vent next to her. She looked over as Fireball pushed open the vent, coughed from the dust and soot that came pouring out with him and looked at her curiously. She smiled down at the adorable little kitten. Fireball, Obi's kitty, was a small ginger cat with pink striped running across his back from head to toe. He was a real sweetie and often accompanied her when she was cleaning the ship at night.

**"Hey, buddy. You ready for another long night of sweeping the corridors?"** She patted him fondly and mewed softly.

**"As usual, you're covered in stuff. Hold still so I can wipe you off so you don't undo too much of my sweeping."** The kitten purred loudly and rubbed against her as she gently swept off most of the dust and soot from his coat. Then, together, they made their way down corridor after corridor, with him rubbing against her and occasionally flopping down in front of her for a tummy rub. When she'd finally finished, they went back to the kitchen where she poured him his usual small bowl of milk, which she and Obi kept a secret stash of just for him. She sat on the ground and cuddled him for a moment once he'd finished the milk. Then she stood and yawned.

**"Well, I'm wiped out. Time for me to get some sleep and time for you to go back into hiding, Fireball. Can't have the prince and Jee finding you, y'know."** The kitten looked up at her with golden eyes and followed her down toward her room.

**"Thinking of spending the night with me, hmm? Well, just make sure you don't keep me up, alright? I need all the sleep I can get."** They had almost reached the door that led to the hallway for her room when the kitten spotted something and dashed forward. Kali looked down at where Fireball was playing and grimaced at the fly buzzing just beyond the cat's reach.

**"Great. That's all I need is one more nuisance. Stupid fly."** She joined Fireball in swatting at it. Unfortunately, neither of them was successful and the fly flew away with Fireball intent on capturing it. Hmm, she thought, reminds me of Zuko and the Avatar. She followed them to make sure Fireball didn't get himself in any trouble. After all, he was still young.

Of course, the fly would have to pick Zuko's room to buzz into. And Fireball, intent on his goal, would have to follow it in throughthe barely cracked open door.

XOXO

Masami, Sokka and Aang rushed about the village, warning people, and successfully got ignored. They seemed shocked after Masami had listened to Aunt Wu how much she was helping the boys, especially Sokka. One woman questioned her about it,

"**Though you listened to Aunt Wu, and seemed so happy with the way she advised you, you still disbelieve?"** She asked, somewhat forlornly.

"**I don't disbelieve her, but I know as much of a jerk as he seems like, Sokka does mean well, and he doesn't want anything to happen to anyone. Everyone is wrong once in a while, and could everyone accept that maybe Aunt Wu had been mistaken?"** She was met with cold shoulders, and mild jeers. She turned away dejectedly, and she moved back towards the boys, who looked as put out as she did, but less hurt.

"**They won't listen to me."** She said quietly. Aang then tried, and was met with the same hostility she had been, which Sokka had been met with since they got there. They all sighed, until someone screamed, and pointed beyond them. They turned to see the volcano pouring. Sokka switched into a completely different person, and Masami had to admit she was impressed.

"**Lava is gonna flow downhill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river." He declared, getting Aang into action.**

"**If any of you are earth benders, come with me." Aang said, motioning for others to follow, and they did. **

"**Everyone else, grab a shovel!" Sokka finished as a thunderous boomed happened behind them, making Masami shriek, along with some of the other women in the village. As those set to work, most women and children, including Masami were evacuated at Aang's demand. As they stood, feeling almost useless to the side, Masami looked up to see the flows coming down, and it didn't seem to be flowing into the stream as much as it could have been. Everyone was afraid to look, until Aang began to Air bend the lava into a stream, though nearly getting himself hurt in the process, Masami gripped her neck nervously, hiding her face. She opened her eyes when everyone began to cheer, she could see Aang breathing heavily, and she guessed he did one of those powerful breath things she'd seen him do before. _Aang is amazing!_ Masami thought, her face turning red as Aunt Wu's voice flowed into her head. She looked down, he was a powerful bender, but he couldn't be the one she spoke of, could he? Masami looked to see Aunt Wu looking mildly put out, and she spoke to Aang, but Masami couldn't hear them, she was too far off. But in all, no one had gotten hurt, and the village hadn't been destroyed…so in a round about way, Aunt Wu was still right; Much to Sokka's chagrin.**

**XOXO**

Kali cautiously peeked into the room through the crack. He was breathing very heavily and, from what she could see, he appeared to be asleep on his side with his back facing the wall. The fly was buzzing about his room and Fireball was bouncing back and forth after it. She looked at the prince again then cracked open the door a bit further and took a step inside, leaning forward toward the cat.

**"Psst. Fireball. C'mere."**

She tried to beckon to the kitten and catch his attention but he was too focused on the fly and ignored her. Slowly she inched in further, her eyes darting to the sleeping prince constantly. She had just about managed to reach the kitten when a thought struck her. How was she going to keep Fireball from crying and waking Zuko up? If she grabbed him, she'd be taking the chance that he'd mew in protest and awaken a sleeping angry person. An angry person who already had problems with her as it was. Also, her boss essentially, much to her chagrin. Just then, the fly flew up to his altar and Kali stared in horror as the kitten paused, crouched, and sprang up onto the table. Most cats could probably have done this without causing a problem but Fireball was still just a kitten. He knocked over two of the candles and Kali instinctively dove forward to catch them, simultaneously reminding herself she had to keep her mouth shut no matter what. Candle wax spilled on her and she gritted her teeth hard to keep from exclaiming. The prince stirred in his bed, probably in reaction to the change in lighting. She knew he was a relatively light sleeper. Cautiously, she stood and replaced the candles as Fireball and the fly knocked over the other candles. Again, she dove to catch them and this time nearly lost one. Wax spilled on her and the floor. She'd have to clean that up later.

Abruptly, the prince shouted,

**"My honor!",** groaned, and flopped over to face the wall. Both Kali and Fireball paused to look at him uncertainly, and then Fireball jumped down to the ground and followed the fly around the room again. Kali replaced the candles hastily and crept closer the cat again, determined to just grab him and make a run for it this time. She'd get that fly later. The fly, however, had other plans and buzzed up over the bed. Kali could just barely restrain herself from shouting "No!" as the kitten jumped up onto the bed after it.

Fireball scurried around behind Zuko's sleeping form as Kali stared at him in horror, unsure what to do. She thought about just leaving the room and leaving Fireball in fate's hands but then she rebuked herself. Zuko had a dangerous, fiery temper and she didn't know how he'd respond to a kitten awakening him in his ship. Especially not if he was having some kind of nightmare about his honor, which apparently he was since he shouted,

**"No!"** right around the time Kali wanted to. The kitten was frightened by him and nearly forgot about the fly until it buzzed down in front of his face. Kali took a deep breath, then crept forward to stand right over the bed. She couldn't help but notice that, quite frankly, the prince was rather well muscled. She didn't have time for those kind of thoughts now though, she reminded herself and focused on the kitten pouncing about right next to the prince's head. She leaned forward over Zuko and carefully started to put her hands around Fireball, not wanting to startle the cat. Then, her luck kicked in again. The fly buzzed directly in front of Zuko's face and Fireball, throwing all caution to the wind and taking fate into his own paws, leapt directly onto the prince's head. Zuko shouted loudly, alarmed the sudden appearance of a cat on his face in the middle of a nightmare, and punched upward into Kali's stomach. Consequently, she groaned and collapsed into his lap while Fireball, as alarmed by Zuko as Zuko was alarmed by him, flung himself on top of her, hissing loudly in fright and digging his claws into her back. The fly didn't have much time to be alarmed really. Zuko unexpectedly swallowed it as he jolted upward, causing him to choke slightly.

XOXO

The next few days were very rough for the trio, Aang had started to learn fire bending, and had nearly taken out Sokka and had lightly singed Masami. Sokka had been much more upset about it then he was. He berated Aang about his carelessness, and he upset Masami, who then started to shout back that she didn't need Sokka fighting her battles for her, by the time they'd stopped fighting, Aang was nearly in tears, and it tore Masami's heart in two. From there, they had moved on from the strange little settlement that a fire nation ship had nearly destroyed and they headed for an air temple.

As they arrived there, flying people, and gliders similar to Aang's greeted them. Aang didn't like the idea at first, but the people seemed to mean no harm, so Aang warmed up to them a bit…for a tiny bit. They then lost his favor by destroying parts of the temple. Progress or not, they destroyed something of value to Aang, and that didn't make Masami exceedingly happy. She kept her mouth closed the entire visit for the most part. The people were nice, but it didn't change the fact they destroyed something that could never be replaced.

There was a mural on the wall, Aang's hands followed along the lines slowly,

"**This is supposed to be the history of my people." He said morosely at the faded pictures. He began to look around, coming to a fountain. The mouth of the statue admitted smog more so then water, and there was nothing up waste in the bowels of the structure. Masami wanted to suggest leaving, but before she could think, someone screamed, **

"**Look out!" And Masami barely had time to look up before something came crashing through the wall, and part of the rock struck her temple, and everything increasingly faded to darkness. **

**She woke up to a large group standing around her, and she realized she didn't know any of them, and she couldn't remember what she had done previously, where she was, or whom any of these people were. But, soon, a familiar face was at her side, embracing her surprisingly strongly.**

"**Oh Masami, I was worried! Are you okay?!" Aang yammered on. She smiled weakly, nodding lightly, laying her head on his shoulder. She was so comfortable with Aang.**

"**I'm alright…what happened?" She asked, her breath tickling his neck as he let out a gaspy giggle.**

"**You got hit with a rock." Someone informed her, no wonder her head didn't feel great. She slowly stood, and the crowd started to disperse. She got her footing, and stumbled some, Aang catching her around her waist, **

"**Don't worry, I have you. I won't let you fall." He said, smiling at her lightly.**

**XOXO**

Kali looked up uncomfortably from Zuko's lap at his stunned face. Why did things like this always have to happen between them? He'd slipped and dragged her down with him once, fallen on her twice, and now she'd fallen on him while he was trying to sleep. For a secret sword-wielding ninja, he slipped and tripped a lot. And now she was returning the favor evidently. Thanks a lot, Fireball. She looked back at him and acknowledged for the first time the pain he was causing her by digging his claws into her back. She also noticed that she was currently recovering from having the wind knocked out of her by Zuko's punch. She coughed and gasped a bit, then leaned back and put her hand beneath the cat, catching him as he started to slide down her back.

**"Oww."**

Zuko got up at once, glaring at her.

**"What is the meaning of this?!"** He gestured at her and the cat, then swept his hand around to indicate the room. She glanced down at the kitten, held him protectively close to her, and looked back up at the half-naked Zuko awkwardly.

**"Well, you see, the meaning of this would be...that I found this cat in the ship and was trying to catch it but it ran into your room and I came after it to try to stop it from waking you up, but then he-it pounced on your face and you woke up anyway...That would be the meaning."  
**  
He narrowed his eyes.

**"I don't believe you."** She furrowed her brow.

**"Well then, what do you think I was doing? Cause that's the truth."**

"I think you were going to use this cat to do something to me while I was sleeping and you just messed it up."  
  
**"No. Practical jokes are Garron's job."**

"Well then what do you call mutinous pictures in my noodles?"  
  
**"That wasn't a practical joke. And it wasn't mutinous either. That was just decorative dinner-making,"** she grinned slightly.

**"Well I didn't like it!"**

"Well, you ate it just the same in the end, didn't you? Even though you smashed the plate first." He glared at her stonily.

**"I want that cat off my ship. And I'm beginning to think I should have thrown you off too, from the start!"**

"Well no one's stopping you now, are they?" she shot back,

**"And as for the cat, what's wrong with him? If you'd had your door shut all the way, he wouldn't have bothered you in the first place."**

"I don't want any animals on my ship!"

"To late for that," she muttered to herself and the prince raised his eyebrow.

**"JUST GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"**

"My apologies, Prince. I didn't mean to disturb you. And neither did the kitten." She cuddled the cat and walked out, shutting the door behind her. Phew, at least she hadn't lost anymore Music Nights. The door opened behind her.

**"No more Music Nights for you! EVER!!"**

XOXO

The day wore on, and only got worse. These people had destroyed so many things, and it was tearing Aang apart, and by extension bothering Masami. She had no problem with Teo or his father, they were nice people. They all where, but she didn't want this to happen to Aang, or a place he loved so. She didn't know how long she had been out, must have been a hell of a bump, but Sokka told her more fights broke out while she was asleep. There was only one unharmed room, and it had stuff for the Fire Nation in it.

Masami wasn't really angry at the Fire Nation. She didn't like the things they did, but she didn't like to hate anyone, and hating a nation was no except. She figured a lot of it had to do with Kali. But, she knew a lot of bad people did come from the nation, and that was made clear when they began to attack the temple. She hated these constant fights. She just wanted them to stop.

During this one, she was useless! Water was no where to be seen, and she had to sit back and hope for the best. As it turned out, Sokka wasn't as much of an idiot as she always begged him to be, and he did end up saving the temple, which Aang respectfully left to the others to defend. Masami thought it was very much of a grown up act for him, and was impressed with them both.

As the time for their stay wore to a close, they set off towards the North Pole, and she couldn't say she was happy about flying over the water, but she was looking forwards to learning water bending!

XOXO

Kali, not too surprisingly, had managed to lose the cat. Fireball had scurried away and gone through a vent.

**"Oops,"** she muttered sarcastically to herself as she decided against reporting that to the prince.

She angrily stormed down to her room and tried to sleep, but to no avail. Finally, after what seemed like a long time of restlessly tossing and turning about, she got up and decided she might as well see if she couldn't get some of tomorrow's work out of the way ahead of time. She walked down towards the kitchen and was surprised to see Garron strolling down the hallway towards her. He seemed a bit caught off guard at the sight of her but then relaxed.  
**  
"Hey there. What are you doing up at this time of the night?"**

"Couldn't sleep," she sighed,

**"Thought I'd start my work for tomorrow since I was already up."**

He grinned down at her and glanced around before leaning towards her conspiratorially.

**"Just make sure you don't mess up the surprise I set up for the prince.**" She raised an eyebrow.

**"What would that be? I hope it's not too obvious a set up cause you know how he is. You might lose all your Music Nights too."** He looked at her, aghast.

**"Wait, you lost ALL your Music Nights?"**

"Yep. I'll be working through them from now on for some reason or other apparently. Obi's cat woke him up accidentally and I was there trying to stop him so the prince blamed me."  
  
He sighed sympathetically and smacked his forehead.

**"Obi needs to keep a better watch on that cat. What'd Prince Zuko do to him?"**

"Fireball's alright. I 'accidentally' let him go when I was carrying him to be thrown off the ship, so he's fine."

**"Well, this surprise I've got in store for the prince ought to cheer you up a bit."**

"What is it?"

"You know how we have to pull out the catapult and take a look at it tomorrow to make sure it still works properly?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I've noticed that often when we do that, the prince likes to come down to take a look at it for himself to make sure it's inspected properly. Like most people who inspect a catapult, he always leans down to look into the actual holder for the projectiles. I've got everything set up perfectly so that at the moment he does that, a perfectly innocent problem with the ship's rigging will occur which will stop the boat shortly. He'll fall into the catapult holder and, simultaneously, there will also be a heavy table which will be knocked into the release lever. Thus, our dear prince will be projected into the sea at a good distance."

He smiled down at her and she grinned back, hoping it would work until she thought of something.****

"What about his armor? As much of a jerk as he is, we don't want him to drown, you know."  
  
**"He'll be doing his inspection right after he practices bending with Jee and Adar. He'll still be wearing his practice robe."**

"You sure it's set up in a way that won't get anyone in trouble or actually get him hurt?"

"Yep. It's foolproof. No one'll be at fault but the ship for being old and Zuko for leaning over the holder. And he'll be landing in deep enough water that he should be alright. The catapult's not as strong as it once was and, really, it needs replacing, so he won't be thrown far from the ship."  
  
She chuckled to picture the prince flying over the sea, yelling. "Well then, what time should I be on deck?"

**"Hmmm...it'll be later this morning. I'll send Hadji to let you know when it's about to happen."**

"Great! Garron, you're a genius sometimes."

"Heh, thanks."

**  
**She walked down to the kitchen, feeling much better now.


	5. Crazy, Amazing Spirit Attack!

Traveling normally didn't take this long, usually they were able to stop and stretch their legs, and get a bit of space from each other. But this? Nothing had been good about this trip. Aang and Sokka were fighting, Masami sat directly in the center of Appa so she couldn't see the water beneath them, and Appa was beginning to fly closer and closer to it.

The closer they got to the water, the more Masami wanted to cry. She pulled her knees to her face and she trembled lightly, but she looked at the others before her as they began to squabble at each other,

"**I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?"** Sokka stated irritably.

**"I have an idea, why don't we all get on your back and you can fly us to the North Pole?"** Aang shot back.

"**I'd love to! Climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for takeoff!"** Sokka snarled, wiggling his butt towards the others. Momo heeded his offer, and jumped atop him. They continued to bicker until Masami couldn't take it anymore.

"**STOP IT!" ** She screamed, never looking up from her knees. They both backed up a step or two, and Sokka went towards Appa's head and Aang made his way to her side, leaning close to her slumped over form,

"**Are you okay?"** He asked, touching her shoulder lightly. She looked at him lightly, her face much paler then her normal fair complexion. She looked anxious, had bags under her eyes. He furrowed his brow,

"**Is it being this close to water?"** He asked, along the way, he had learned of her fear, it just hadn't dawned on him it'd be this bad. She nodded lightly, putting her head back on her knees until she felt an arm around her shoulders. She looked up to see Aang pull her towards him, and she sank her face into his shoulder, and she shook lightly, but he tried to sooth her, rubbing her back with his hands,

"**It's okay Masami, we'll be there soon."** He hoped, for all of their sakes.

XOXO

Kali had thought it was hilarious...after she'd seen Zuko surface from the water and scream for help, thus clearly displaying himself to be all right. Garron's plan had, indeed, gone off without so much as a hitch. He really could be quite brilliant. Kali sometimes wondered why he was stuck with them rather than at a more advanced position. Perhaps it was because he was such a practical joker? At any rate, she'd been worried about Zuko during his unexpected trip but, thinking back to it, had thought it was priceless. She'd made sure to be near the front of the bow so that she could get a good look at his face as he flew over her. She'd never forget it.

They'd stopped at a port to replace the catapult and get the "worn out" rigging fixed. Zuko was in his room sulking as usual due to the delay and his unexpected swim. Kali had timed her work in such a way to ensure that she was now scrubbing the deck while Music Night was taking place. At least she could be in the same place as the music. Unfortunately, she was rapidly running out of deck to scrub and the music had only just started. She had tried to prolong the job but, because she'd started it right after dinner, she was almost finished now. She'd just resigned herself to the fact that her scrubbing was done and that she had to go inside to do something else when Uncle called to her that he needed her. She walked over to him and he spoke, with a sort of conspiratorial glance around at the crew.

**"Kali. I have some important jobs for you. I need you to dust this statue"** -he indicated the statue he'd purchased from the pirates-

**"play the Tsungi horn (since my nephew will not), and provide your services as a dance partner. These are very crucial orders so I hope you can handle them."** She smiled hopefully down at him.

**"Of course, General Iroh."** She glanced back at the darkened doorway and Uncle smiled at her.

**"Do not worry. I'm quite sure he won't be issuing any more orders tonight. He seemed quite put out and tired after his dip in the sea earlier. I think it is safe to assume that my orders stand for tonight."** He winked at her. She cheerfully hurried to put away her scrubbing tools, then brought her duster back and dusted off Uncle's statue.

Uncle had been teaching her for a little while how to play the Tsungi horn. She hadn't gotten to practice as much as she would have liked due to her increasing workload but still she didn't do too badly at relatively simple tunes. She sat and played the horn along with a few of the songs while Uncle sang or played the pipa. Then the crew taught her a few more dances. Adar and Obi were particularly good dancers. Adar had been teaching her a more advanced dance that involved couples dancing as if they were fighting. It was a beautiful but very complicated dance. It had taken her a while to pick up and he had been forced to show it to her in slow steps. It had also been difficult to learn because their practice sessions had been spread out over time and always short. It reminded her of bending a bit and always made her wish terribly to tell them that she was a fire bender. But she kept her mouth shut. Her mother had taught her early on to keep her gift close to her and not be quick to trust anyone with it. Now, though, Adar asked her to dance with him the way he'd taught her and she felt terribly worried that she'd mess it up. The crew reassured her that only a couple of them actually knew the dance and that it'd just be fun to see someone try it. Jee played the pipa in a lively fashion while the drums were beat with much vigor. They took their positions across from each other and, at the right moment, swung into action. Rapidly, they danced about, doing flips and twirling kicks and lunges in a graceful fashion. Kali felt herself getting caught up in the dance and thought how much it felt like fire. Then, as quickly as it'd begun, it seemed to be over. Adar caught her in his arms, smiled down at her, and the crew clapped. She came back to reality.

Music Night was coming to a close and she sat watching as Hadji and Balbo danced to Uncle's singing. It had been a wonderful night, even though she'd have to spend the rest of the night working instead of sleeping. Uncle was in the middle of his song when the music suddenly stopped and all grew still. The crew stared as the tall, middle-aged man with huge sideburns and his guards strolled aboard their ship.

XOXO

Masami couldn't bring herself to look out of Aang's neck. She felt so safe. She didn't know what it was about him. It wasn't that he was the Avatar, that didn't really matter to her. She felt protected, and accepted. That was a very powerful feeling, he knew she had the problems she did, and he still seemed to care, dare say he cared more then a friend would? Maybe like a best friend…or a lov-No, she couldn't bring herself to finish that word. She wasn't in _love_ with Aang! She couldn't have been…. could she?

She felt him rest his head on top of hers, and her face went farther into his neck, and her lips landed on it. Aang tensed for a second, and pulled her closer. She wanted to look up, but she didn't. She moved her face lightly, and he shivered. She didn't know what she was doing, but she could feel the heat from Aang's body on her, and she could feel his pulse racing. Was he feeling okay? She started to ask when Sokka spoke,

"**You two are being awful quiet, should I set something up to leave you alone?"** He jeered. Aang narrowed his eyes,

"**Mind your own business Sokka." **Masami smiled into his neck, and he looked down at her. He cocked his head to the side lightly,

"**What?"** He asked, she smiled wider,

"**You make me smile, both of you."** She said, loud enough for Sokka to hear. They both, despite themselves, smiled,

"**I'm glad I'm with you guys."** She said, burrowing her face further into Aang, closing her eyes, still trying to ignore the water, but before long, they were greeted with a blow much unlike anything Masami had felt before. It came from below Appa, and it sent them all flying towards the water. As Masami hit it, panic set in; she thought this was it. She believed she was, along with the other two, would all die.

She screamed and nearly had a panic attack, grinding the teeth in the back of her mouth, and keeping her eyes tightly closed. And as soon as the attack had started, it stopped, sparing them all. The attackers were the Northern Water Tribe. The group was escorted the rest of the way from the water to the North Pole, and they were finally back on land, well, sort of, ice more then anything, but ice was better then water, at least in Masami's eyes.

XOXO

Kali stood in room dejectedly, packing up what few personal items she owned. Admiral Zhao was his name and she didn't like him one bit. As if things weren't already rough enough with this situation of playing chase with her sister and the Avatar with her aid coming from a bad-tempered, banished prince, she'd just been drafted into the Fire Navy!

Admiral Sideburns had come aboard to announce that he was going to launch an assault on the Northern Water Tribe in order to wipe them out once and for all. Personally, Kali wasn't a fan of wiping out entire civilizations or hurting anyone, really. Thus, he would be recruiting Zuko's crew members to assist in the invasion. He'd also offered Uncle a chance to join him as his adviser. Uncle had respectfully declined. As the rest of the crew left, dismayed, to pack, Kali had looked over at Uncle, somewhat at a loss for what to do. She was part of Zuko's crew but she wasn't officially a Fire Nation soldier or even considered a citizen. For all intensive purposes, the world considered her a citizen of the Earth Kingdom. Zhao had looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, frowning as he seemed to recognize from her clothing that she wasn't a regular part of the crew. Her entirely black outfit didn't really give her away as being a part of any nation but neither did it define her as Fire Nation.

**"And who might this be, General Iroh?"**

Uncle had looked at her uneasily then put on a smile as he looked up at Zhao.

**"This would be our cook. She's not actually a part of the regular crew. Our former cook left and so we had to take on a new one from the Earth Kingdom."**

Zhao had furrowed his brow then looked down at her as though he were inspecting her for defects. She forced herself to look him in the eyes firmly.

**"Hmm. Well since she apparently sees fit to become a part of the Fire Nation crew, it stands to reason that she should be just fine with joining the Fire Nation navy. After all, she appears to have a fine pair of swords on her and apparently has held up just fine as a part of this crew."**

She'd bitten her lip to keep from objecting and looked at Uncle, sensing from the way Zhao had said it that it wasn't a request so much as an order. Uncle looked back at her and sighed.

She looked back at Zhao.  
**  
"What alternatives do I have?" she asked seriously.**

"None. Unless you'd prefer to become a prisoner. After all, I can't afford to take a chance on a person with no allegiances to the Fire Nation having inside knowledge on the Fire Nation's plans or equipment such as our ships."

She'd clenched her fists and looked down.

**"Then, if that's the case...I'm at your service, Admiral Zhao."**

She'd forced herself to do a slight bow of respect then looked back up. He smiled.

**"That's more like it. Perhaps you'll be able to serve as a cook as well, since apparently you're rather good at it."**

She'd started for the doorway when he'd stopped her.

**"Before you go, I'd like to see your swords."**

She'd turned and looked at him, furrowed her brow in surprise and suspicion, then unsheathed her swords, which were slung across her back. She'd handed them to him and he inspected them, his face unreadable. Finally he'd handed them back and gave her a strange look, then said,

**"Breakfast is at 6 tomorrow. Make sure you aren't late to serve it."**

She finished packing and looked around at the sparse room. Hard to believe it, but she actually thought she might miss this place. She wondered if she'd survive the invasion. If the rest of the crew would make it. About who would win. She thought of Adar and his hopes for a promotion. This would be a good chance. She thought of Balbo, who she worried was getting a little old for this sort of thing, and of Hadji, with his stories. Of Garrow and Kahn. How was Kahn supposed to keep his head on straight in the middle of a battle? He'd need to make his decisions fast and he'd need to not get confused. He had enough problems with those sorts of things without being stuck in a full scale battle. She thought of Garron, with his crazy jokes which she'd probably never see or experience again, and of Obi, with his kind personality and his little- She froze. His cat! Where was Fireball? No one would be around to take care of him once they'd left. Zuko wouldn't, that was for sure. Uncle might, but still.

She rushed to find Obi.  
**  
"Obi! Obi! Where's Fireball?"**

He looked back at her, his face worried as well.

**"I don't know! I was just looking for him. I need to take the little fella off the ship and find him a decent home," He looked up anxiously towards the upper deck, "But the admiral's men are waiting and we've all got to report up on deck soon or else they'll come find us."**

**"You go on up. I'll find him. Where have you looked so far?"**

"Most of the rooms and I've called up most of the vents. I just can't find him!"

She sighed and thought of the one place she knew he probably hadn't checked, 

**"Have you looked in the prince's room?"** His face changed as he grimaced.

**"No."  
**  
**"Don't worry,"** she placed a hand on his shoulder,

**"I'll find him. Now go on up. I'll take care of him and let you know about it the next chance I get."**

He paused for a moment, then nodded and headed upstairs. She rushed over to Zuko's room and would have gone in had she not heard Zhao speaking. She stopped then moved back down the hallway and looked for a place to hide if she needed to. The nearest spot she could find was a closet like the one she'd been trapped in with Zuko. Hearing Zhao's voice grow louder (he was talking about the Blue Spirit), she ducked into it and waited silently as he passed by. A moment later, she could hear Zuko exploding while Uncle tried to calm him down. She looked down as something moved against her leg. Fireball!

**"Mew?"**

She picked him up and hushed him. Unable to think of any other way to get him off the ship without Zhao's men noticing, she put in her bag and hoped he'd keep quiet long enough for her to get off the ship and let him go. Then she hastened upstairs, stopping only to grab what was left of Fireball's milk from the pantry and put it in her bag as well.

XOXO

Masami shook as they climbed off the waterlogged bison. They were apologized to, but it didn't help her. She couldn't get the shakes off of her, and she couldn't slow her heart down. She swallowed hard to try to get the memories being that close to that much water at once brought back to her, and she moved away from the group who greeted them. The man, Chief Arnook was a bit perplexed,

"**You friend, is she always…so social?"** He asked, he didn't mean any offense by it, he was just curious.

"**She doesn't do well with water."** Aang explained. Sokka rolled his eyes, cracking his back slightly,

"**She's a decent water bender when she doesn't freak out about the water."** Sokka finished, with a shrug. As the day wore on, a feast began that night. Sokka couldn't take his eyes, or his attention off of the Princess of this place, Princess Yue, and Aang was too busy looking at his surroundings and eating to notice much. Then…water benders began a demonstration. Her attention was captivated. They made ice. She better understood the fact she could actually water bend, and no longer fear her element. This was a good day after all, now she just had to approach this Master Pakku, that couldn't be that bad, right?

Masami looked towards Sokka and Yue as Sokka was making a fool of himself.

"**So, uh, you're a Princess! You know, back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a Prince myself!" **Masami snorted, he glared at her, and he continued.

"**So it looks like I'm gonna be in town for awhile. I'm thinking maybe we could, do an activity together?"****  
**

"**Do an activity?" **Yue asked with a giggle. She looked away for a second, and Sokka looked back as he heard an even louder snort come from Masami. He narrowed his eyes as she choked on food, wiped her eyes and nearly fell backwards.

"**You're a genius Sokka."** She said, getting herself composed.

XOXO

Kali had let Fireball go not too far from the main Fire Nation encampment. It had been the first chance she'd gotten to let him go without anyone noticing. She hoped he'd be alright and stay safe. She'd left his milk with him too, open so that he could have the rest of it. She wondered when she'd get a chance to let Obi know that she'd gotten him off the ship safely. Suddenly, she heard a loud explosion in the distance. She turned and could see that it had happened somewhere near the docks. She tensed up and thought of Zuko and Uncle, still there. Then she forced herself to relax, figuring it must have been some sort of accident and that the odds were it had nothing to do with them. But still, she couldn't help but worry a bit.

Later, in the middle of the night, she was summoned from her ratty cot to serve Zhao tea. She rose irritably and hastily worked to ready the tea in the makeshift kitchen the soldiers had set up. She made ginseng tea, thinking of Uncle Iroh. It was his favorite. She wondered if she'd ever see him again.

Thus, it came as somewhat of a surprise to her when she arrived in Zhao's tent to find him deep in conversation with none other than Uncle. She did a double take but, at a glance from Zhao, kept her mouth shut. Uncle smiled at her, then sniffed the air as she approached them.

**"Aaaaahh! Ginseng tea! My favorite."**

She smiled slightly at him. Zhao picked up his conversation again.

**"As I was saying, I'm devastated to hear about Prince Zuko. Just devastated."**

Kali froze for a moment in the act of pouring Uncle's tea, then hastily resumed pouring as Zhao gave her a look. It was no Prince Zuko, but it was still a menacing enough look.

**"The Fire Lord will not be pleased when he learns who was responsible**," Uncle said sadly.

**"You know who was behind the attack?"** Zhao asked, a bit too tensely, Kali thought.

**"Yes,"** Uncle slammed his fist down, almost knocking over his tea,

**"Pirates! We had a run in with them awhile back. Thank you, Kali,"** he added as she steadied his tea. Her eyes shot to Zhao's face as she spotted the slightest trace of a smile.

"**They wanted revenge,"** Uncle finished. Zhao sipped his tea and Kali realized she was expected to leave now that her services were complete. She set the tea pot down on the table somewhat shakily and slowly walked out of the room.

**"So have you reconsidered my offer?"** she heard Zhao ask.

**"Yes,"** she heard Uncle reply,

**"It will be an honor to serve as your general. To the Fire Nation!"**

"To victory!"

Kali couldn't sleep that night. And, despite her best efforts, she couldn't hold back the tears. He hadn't been her friend. He'd been her boss and, at times, practically been her enemy in some ways. But he'd been there and she'd started to get to know him. And, try as she had not to, she'd started to care about him. And now, he was gone.

XOXO

Masami, Aang and Sokka left the feast to head somewhere to sleep. Master Pakku had told Aang that he was needed at sunrise, so the trio decided to hit the sack rather early. As Masami and Aang awoke, Sokka snored loudly, and they ignored him, leaving on their own. As they approached the meeting point, they could see the man's back.

"**GOOD MORNING MASTER PAKKU!"** Aang screeched loudly, making the man twitch, and drop the water he was bending. He turned towards them, and Aang spoke again,

"**This is my friend I told you about, Masami."** He said with a large smile. She nodded lightly, but didn't like the face she was given. He moved away, and made a chair for himself.

"**I'm sorry. I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friend was a girl. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn water bending." **Pakku said, dismissivly. Masami was floored,

"**What? Why?"** She asked, her voice surprisingly even.

"**Women are healers, men are fighter, you do not change the order of things."** He said with a note of finality to his voice.

"That's not fair."** She said quietly. He shrugged,**

"**Such is life, go to ****Yugoda, she will teach you to heal like the rest of the women here."** He said condescendingly, making Aang mad.

"I won't be your student if you won't teach her too!"** He declared, crossing his arms. Pakku smiled,**

"**Fine."** He said, looking down at his hands boredly.

"**No! He didn't mean that. Don't worry about me, Aang."** She said, turning away and leaving slowly. She made her way towards the cave for the healing class. As she entered a kind lady greeted her, but she wasn't interested in healing. She wanted to help, to master her fears, not heal and make sandwiches for men who were going to master the element she wanted to do herself.

Later that night, after a terribly failed attempt at healing, she lay face down on her sleeping bag. Sokka spoke up as he entered the cave.

"**You girls are confusing…you like me, you don't! I don't get it…what's your problem?"** He finished, dropping to the ground himself. Masami didn't move, and Aang spoke up,

"**Master Poophead won't teach her because she's a girl."** He said, dropping himself next to Masami. He touched her shoulder, and she rolled over onto her back and looked up at him with a sad smile,

"**It's okay, you need to learn more then I do."** She said with a smile.

"**I could teach you!"** He said, beaming. She furrowed her brow, but didn't have time to question before she was dragged off to learn. As he began to teach, he was interrupted by a voice she was tired of hearing.

"**You have disrespected me, my teachings, and my entire culture.****You are no longer welcome as my student."** He said turning away. Masami felt worse and worse as this day wore on, and now the Avatar couldn't learn to water bend because of her….but she was determined to make that stupid, arrogant son of a bitch get over himself and teach Aang, and hopefully herself, if it killed her.

XOXO

After a sleepless night, Kali had come to the conclusion that she was either in denial or she was brighter than Zhao. She wanted to believe it was the second. Admiral Sideburns, she was pretty sure, had something to do with the explosion of Zuko's ship. Somehow, she had the feeling the pirates hadn't come up with that idea on their own. After all, she didn't think their dealing with Zuko had been much worse than the dealings most other people had with him. What gave her hope that the plan hadn't worked was Uncle. She knew him to be a pretty wise man and she doubted he'd missed that slight smile of Zhao's anymore than she had. She also didn't picture him taking Zuko's death so lightly. He'd shown that he was upset, yes, but he didn't strike her as someone who would experience his nephew's death then just run off immediately to join an expedition to the North Pole. She clung to these ideas for hope as she rose and helped prepare breakfast with the other cooks while the rest of the soldiers took down the camp. She spotted Balbo and Hadji taking down a tent briefly as she passed through the camp on her way to Zhao's tent. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and strolled into his tent with breakfast for him and his war council. Silently, she set it out for all of them as they continued their discussion of their plans as if she didn't exist. She looked at Zhao's smug face, listened to his egotistical chatter, and wanted to slam his plate into his face, eggs and all. Instead, she poured him his morning tea then moved on to pour Uncle's tea. She looked into his eyes, looking for some sign of reassurance, but he just gave her a sympathetic smile and kept his eyes difficult to read. After she'd served them, she went back to the kitchen, helped serve the rest of the men (among whom she found Jee, Kahn, and Balbo again), then packed up her tent along with a couple of the other cooks who she'd shared it with. She barely had time to gulp down her breakfast before they began boarding their ships. Kali, to her dismay, was assigned to Zhao's ship as a cook and soldier. She was provided with a worn set of clothes and armor, which was too big with her and sent aboard. Her only consolation was knowing that Uncle would be on board the ship as well.

XOXO

The next morning, Masami and Aang went to talk to Arnook about seeing if Pakku would reconsider. He told them honestly he didn't know what to do, except apologize. Masami felt no need to do this, but she said she would. She looked back to Aang, and the man looked at back to Pakku. She lowered her head,

"**I'm sorry he tried to help me against your wishes."** She said quietly, he smiled smugly, crossing his arms.

"**I didn't expect an apology, most women from a place like you're from wouldn't know their place."** She looked up, her brow furrowed,

"What exactly do you mean by that?" He grinned.

"**Nothing more then saying you've learned your place as a woman."** She didn't like his tone, and she kept her mouth closed. She watched as Aang moved up next to her,

"**Her gender and where she's from have nothing to do with anything!"** He said, angrily. Pakku rolled his eyes,

"**Let her speak for herself, if she doesn't like what I say, she can do something about it."** He said, never moving. Masami didn't move, she was scared if she even breathed wrong, he would recant his statement to teach Aang. Before she knew what hit her, she was hit with a blast of ice, and she felt her necklace break, landing on the floor before her. She looked up,

"**I tire you your arrogance."** She said, striking a fighting pose,

"Fight me, and teach my friend. If you want me to respect you, you have to respect me and I respectfully ask you to fight me."

XOXO

Kali very much wanted to question Iroh about what had happened and whether Zuko was really dead or not, but she had no way to do so discreetly. All she could do really was hope he'd find her at some point or that they'd run into each other in an empty hallway at some point. Zhao, who seemed to have taken an instant dislike to her, kept her nearly as busy as Zuko had. This time, though, she had no crew to sympathize with, no kitten to play with, and no uncle of her boss to get her off the hook occasionally. The crew aboard the ship was rigid, disciplined, and had no interest in chatting with someone who was basically just an Earth Kingdom captive in cook's clothing. Zuko's apparent death hung over her and her thoughts drifted often to Masami, wondering if she was okay and what she was doing. The Avatar was apparently at the North Pole, which was a major reason for why Zhao had decided to invade the Northern Water Tribe now. Not only would he get credit for conquering a great nation but also for capturing the Avatar. From the size of the invasion force he'd gathered, Kali felt he was justified in believing he could do it. She worried for Masami and her friends and resolved to do whatever she could to find them during the invasion. She sighed as she opened the closet and pulled out the mop. Well, here she was again. Mopping as always, it seemed. She looked sadly down at the mop and began to make her way down the corridor slowly.

She stopped suddenly as she heard Uncle's voice. He apparently was whispering to someone and, not wanting to interrupt his conversation and filled with curiosity, she tried to sneak closer. Unfortunately, she accidentally bumped the bucket with her mop, causing water to spill everywhere. Great, she thought, as she heard Uncle whisper hastily,

"**Someone's coming!"** followed by words she didn't understand. Not only had she interrupted a suspicious conversation but also now she had to hurry up and wipe up all the water before someone slipped on it. Like Zuko had always done. She heard footsteps approaching and hastened to bend over to pick up her mop so she could clear the floor. She saw the pointy shoes and lower armor of a fire bender costume and, without looking up, said,

**"The floor's still pretty wet, so you might want to watch your step. I'll wipe it up as fast as I can."** No response but she sensed some hesitation on the fire bender's part and glanced up at him to make sure he wasn't waiting for her to move out of the way. She squinted hard at the skull-like mask staring down at her and tried to make out the eyes but to no avail. Finally, as he stood there still silently, she assumed he must have been waiting for her. Well, why didn't you just say so then? She thought, scowling a bit and shifting to the side. He then attempted to walk carefully across the floor. He almost made it too. Evidently, however, the universe had other plans for him and at the last minute, his shoe caught the edge of her bucket's handle and, in an inexplicable turn of events, led to the his foot being trapped in the bucket. Thus, when he put his foot back down with the bucket on it and leaned down to get it off, his foot slipped. And, of course, he fell backwards into Kali. The mask held fast but with his face now just inches from her face, just like not-so-old times, she could see his eyes clearly. She could also see his scar.

XOXO

Masami waited, and the man never moved. She furrowed her brow, and let down her stance for a second,

"**If we fight, we fight outside."** He said, making his way past her. She nodded and followed him. Made sense…less likely to hurt things that way. She moved slowly down the stairs and before she was off the stairs, she was hit with a water whip and sent flying. She screamed and landed hard on her back.

"**Masami!"** Aang called after her, looking worried. She pulled herself up, and she whirled her arms around, faster then she knew she could, and sent water flying back at him, that he froze and slid on. Stupid old man, shouldn't he be in a old people home somewhere warm!? She growled and she waited. She just stood. He sent more water her way, and she blew on it, freezing it before it got to her. She was internally happy, but didn't want to show it.

"**Done yet?"** He said, throwing more vicious attacks her way. She tossed some back at him, and she kept up with him until she was trapped in ice. She struggled, and she slashed her face open thrashing around. The ice beneath her face turned red, and she looked at him, haughtily,

"**Will you teach Aang or not?"** She said. He smiled, a different smile then she'd seen before.

"**I'll see you both at sunrise…no excuses."** He said, turning away.

"**Good….wait what?"** She said, as she was released, but he was gone. She…she had amaster now! And she got to train with the Avatar, things were looking up, she knew it.

XOXO

Kali blurted out the first thought that crossed her mind.

**"You have terrible luck, you know that?"**

He half-groaned, half-growled and picked himself up before muttering,

**"I don't need luck."** She stared up at him, taking in the fact that his continued existence in this world was now official. Then, she jumped up and had to hold herself in check from hugging him. She knew she'd regret it if she did, so instead she just looked at him and said quietly,

**"I...I'm glad you're alive. I was...worried when I heard your uncle talking to Zhao."** She couldn't see his eyes but she felt him staring back at her for a moment.  
**  
"Uh...thanks."**

She tried to compose herself.

**"I take it you're sneaking about pretending to be a soldier so you can get to the Avatar first when we get to the North Pole?"  
**  
**"Yeah."**

Silence. She didn't know whether to say, "Good luck with that!" or "Well, I'm going to find him first so I can help my sister." Instead, she said,

**"I guess you should get back to going wherever you're going then so you don't get caught."** He nodded and turned, leaving without a word.

She watched him, wanting at once to hug him still for being alive and to knock him upside the head. She frowned down at the mop then snatched it up and went back to her task.

XOXO

The next morning, Masami and Aang were a few minutes late getting to Pakku. Masami swore he better not reconsider anything now that she'd earned it, but he didn't. He pushed her to be as best as she could, and she was beginning to get talented more with ice then anything. She was thankful for ice. It was still water bending, but she could feel it, it wasn't a fear. She could make use of her bending now, but she was ashamed to say as a water bender she felt no push towards healing, or felt she had that ability in her at all.

Yugoda and Pakku urged her that she did, but she was never sure, but she didn't know what to expect really. She could learn it, she maybe wouldn't. What difference would it make in the long run really? She didn't think about it, she merely focused on training. She surpassed Aang, who was as usually laying around. She didn't mind, she could teach him later. As long as one of them learned it, she figured it didn't matter.

One afternoon after training, she and Aang lazed around talking and laughing over lunch. He looked down at his pocket a few times, and he didn't know what to say. She raised an eyebrow,

"**Something in there you'd like to share with the rest of us Aang?"** She said, making him giggle. He reached into his pocket and he retrieved the necklace Pakku had broken. She smiled faintly,

"**You fixed it?"** She said her smiling growing as his blush did.

"**You really seemed to like it, so I felt like I needed to. I like to see you happy Masami."** He said, looking her in the eyes. She smiled, blushed and looked away. She heard him move and by the time she looked up, their faces were inches apart. Her breath caught in her throat, and she turned her face so he couldn't see her badgerdeer in the headlights look. Before either could speak, Appa flew over and Sokka came screaming past them about fire nation ships.

XOXO

Kali strolled through the mess hall, serving the men. Right now, she felt like this ship alone could take on a nation, there were so many men packed into it. She felt trapped. She also felt clumsy. She'd gotten used to the heaviness of the armor compared with her normal outfit but she had yet to deal with it being a couple sizes too big for her. Zuko'd been lucky to find a size that fit him properly. She was slenderer than him but she about the same height and still she got stuck with the oversized armor. Awesome.

Speaking of Zuko, she hadn't been able to spot him since they'd had that run in a few weeks ago. They'd be at the North Pole within a day and she wondered if he'd come up with a plan for getting in ahead of the invasion yet. From what she understood, the North Pole was a fortress and the Northern Water Tribe a powerful force to be reckoned with. As if fighting the Avatar wasn't already bad enough. She had hoped to get in early as well but had a feeling she wasn't invited to whatever little pre-invasion party he was planning. She supposed she'd be forced to wait for the main invasion and just hope that she managed to survive. She could always fire bend if she needed protection but it'd been a while since she'd gotten to do any decent practicing. She'd learned a lot by watching Zuko, Uncle, and the other fire benders on the Shoeboat practice but hadn't gotten to test it yet. Plus, she'd be fighting water benders on their own terrain. Of course, she didn't want to fight them but they'd certainly want to fight her once they spotted her armor.

XOXO

" **The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe. But they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits! Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission." **Chief Arnook announced the night following Sokka's discovery. No one seemed to move, but before Masami could finish that thought, Sokka was on his feet. Was he crazy?!

"**Count me in."** He said, more seriously then she'd ever heard him say anything. She looked at the shocked look on the Princess's face, and she figured it out. Sokka was doing this for her, fighting and potentially dying…for the girl he was falling in love with.

**"Sokka!"** Aang protested, but Masami said nothing. She thought what he was doing was a great thing, and very brave of him. Those who volunteered were decorated as Warriors, three lines to the face. Masami noted the look Sokka gave the Princess as he walked away, and she gave a similar look to the back of Aang's head, what if something were to happen to him? Where would the world be then? Even more so…where would she be then?

Later the next morning, Aang, Arnook and Princess Yue were standing outside, watching impatiently. Masami soon joined them, carrying Momo on her head.

"**The stillness before battle is unbearable. Such a quite dread."** She heard Arnook say. She agreed, this was intense and made her a little more skittish then usual.

**"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm gonna make a difference this time."** Aang said with a conviction Masami didn't often hear from him, but she didn't doubt what he said, she just hoped they would live to see the end of this, because she may have been very positive person, but she was also a realist, and she knew war meant death, and though he was the Avatar, he wasn't invincible, and neither was Sokka…or her for that matter, the thoughts made her shiver.

XOXO

They'd almost arrived. The assault on the Northern Water Tribe would soon begin. It was the afternoon and Zhao had ordered everyone to prepare for first strike. Kali had finished her normal duties and had instantly been ordered to commence with her soldier duties. She was currently assisting in setting up a catapult outside, while being taught about how to properly fight in the Fire Navy by some of the veterans around her. The ship was bustling with activity as soldiers prepared the catapults and other weapons. There was an air of excitement and tension as they closed in on their goal. Kali, for her part, was feeling the tension much more than she was the excitement. The thought of finally finding Masami was the only thing that kept her from falling completely into a bad mood. She was still having trouble handling the concept that she was about to go fight in the war. On the side of the Fire Nation, no less. She'd never really considered herself cut out to be a soldier. But, she supposed she'd have to get over that now.

XOXO

Masami watched as soldiers began to leave, and Aang did as well. She held Momo as they watched Appa and Aang leave them, and she only prayed they would come back safely, and as would the others fighting and with them. She heard Momo make a noise as someone approached, Yue walked to her side, smiling knowingly,

"**He'll be okay."** She said, looking up at Appa as well. She didn't seem terribly worried, but she didn't seem happy either. Masami nodded, and tried to keep her nerves down. As the day wore on, she watched ships get slowly closer, and she didn't like what they looked like. She couldn't see the horizon anymore.

What could possess a nation to become like this? Masami would never know, but she did know what a relief it was to see Aang coming back towards them that night. He and Appa landed and she ran towards him, Momo flying behind her.

"**Oh you're not hurt are you?"** She said, dropping to her knees beside Appa, where he had slide to the ground. He shook his head,

"**There are so many of them, I don't know if I can handle it."** He said miserably,

"**But you're the Avatar! You have to!"** Yue insisted, he looked torn, between her and Masami. Masami smiled sadly,

"**I'm just a kid."** He said, curling up miserably, Masami reaching for him, and pulling him close, whispering that everything would be ok to him, though, she couldn't say that for sure, no one could.

XOXO

Kali rushed about, hastily passing out plates to the soldiers and serving them as quickly as possible. The assault had officially begun and her dread for the actual invasion the next day had greatly increased. Their ship hadn't been attacked yet but she'd seen a great many others felled by both the Avatar and the small fleets of water benders, which had traveled swiftly from ship to ship, freezing them in place and piercing them with ice. She'd also seen several of their small boats sunk or burned up. War was such a miserable thing. It made her all the more distressed and furious at Zhao to see the obvious delight he was taking in playing the key role in all of this. Every time she had to look at his smug face as he strutted about giving orders, she felt like she wanted to either gag or fling something at his face.

She was finishing washing up the dishes when Uncle appeared in the doorway and motioned for her to come to him. She did so hastily and he whispered to her just outside the kitchen.

**"Zuko is going to leave to enter the North Pole tonight. I wondered if you could get him some provisions he might take with him."  
**  
She nodded. **"Of course, sir."**

He smiled at her**, "Thank you. I really appreciate it. Meet me outside on the top deck after everyone else but the sentries is asleep. "**

When she met him, it was only a couple hours til dawn. She had collected just a few things into an old bag, figuring Zuko would be traveling relatively light. Uncle led her quickly through a series of hallways to one of the last rooms on the far side of the ship. Just before they entered, he said,

**"I have another favor to ask."** Then, without telling her what it was, he opened the door and they stepped in quietly.

**"If you're fishing for an octopus, my nephew, you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape."**

Zuko stayed focused on the small vessel he was preparing.

**"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle."**

**"Perhaps not. But I do think you could do with a bit of backup, at least in your initial attempt to get into the nation."**

**"Uncle, I appreciate everything you've done for me. But I'm sure they'd notice if you were missing and I don't need you to be at any more risk for me then you already are."**

It was then that Kali understood what the favor he wanted to ask of her was.

**"You are right,**" Uncle replied, sighing,

**"Which is why that is not what I had in mind, exactly."** He turned to her.  
**  
"Will you do me this one last favor? It may help you in finding your sister as well."**

Zuko spun around, he face twisting into a fierce scowl.

**"Her?! Uncle, she's not even really one of us! She's not from the Fire Nation and all she wants to do is find her sister and then get in my way by helping the Avatar!"**

Kali met his scowl with her own.  
**  
"You're right, I do want to help my sister and her friends. But I've still helped you, haven't I?"**

She tossed him the provisions then looked at Uncle, slightly confused.

**"He has a good point though. What he said was true. Why do you want me to go with him exactly? Why not another one of the old crew members? I've seen a couple aboard."**

He put his hand on his shoulder and looked up at her with a kind expression on his face.

**"Because I know you are the best one for the job when it comes to keeping an eye on my nephew. You have a strong spirit and a good head on your shoulders. You also, as Prince Zuko pointed out, are not from the Fire Nation, which means you have no loyalties to Zhao. I want to make sure my nephew makes it inside the Water Tribe safely. I would feel much better about it if I knew he had a friend with him."**

He smiled and nodded at her as he said the last sentence. Friend. She hadn't ever really considered Zuko a friend. Something in Uncle's eyes told her though, that he considered her to be his friend and therefore, also a friend to Zuko. She guessed he knew she'd been upset by the thought of Zuko's death. Zuko seemed surprised as well and, for a moment, at a loss for words.

Then he recovered and said, in a low voice,

**"She's not my friend, Uncle."** Kali sighed, as she looked down into the pleading eyes of an old man worried for his nephew.

**"Alright. I'll do it,"** she said to him, then looked up at Zuko defiantly,

**"But only if he cooperates."**

"Thank you." Uncle turned to look at Zuko, who looked stubbornly opposed to the idea.

**"I'm sorry,"** Uncle said quietly,

**"I just nag you because, well, ever since I lost my son..."** He seemed to choke for a moment, as though he were holding back tears. Zuko's face changed instantly, looking concerned.

**"Uncle, you don't have to say it."**

**"I think of you as my own."**

Zuko sighed, then looked back at Kali.

**"Alright. You can come. Just make sure you stay out of my way or be prepared to face the consequences."**

Uncle brightened a bit and turned to Kali, handing her clothes like Zuko's.

"You'd best get changed quickly. You two need to hurry before the rest of the crew wakes up to prepare for the invasion."

XOXO

Aang's mood had hardly improved by the time night fell. Masami stood close to him as Yue began to tell them something close to a story about the moon.

"**The legends say the moon was the first water bender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves. Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon; our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance." **Yue informed them, Aang's eyes suddenly shot up, and he looked like he'd had**  
**

"**The Spirits! Maybe I can find them and get their help!"** Aang cried, the females looking at him like he was crazy, until Masami realized something Sokka had told her about before she'd started to travel with them.

**"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World. Aang can talk to them!"** She said lightly, unsure of much of anything of that caliber.

**"Maybe they'll give you the wisdom to win this battle!"** Yue said hopefully.

**"****Or, maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" **Aang said with a flourish, spreading his arms excitedly. Both girls looked at him with a strange look, when he folded his arms behind his head.

"**Or wisdom, wisdom's good too."** Masami rolled her eyes as they all began to moved after Yue. She lead them around town, and towards a little hole in the way.

"**So is this the way to the Spirit World?" **Aang asked, looking at Yue. She laughed,

"**No, you'll have to get there on your own. But I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole." **She finished, opening the door. Inside, it was incredible. She hadn't ever seen anything like this before; grass and a koi pond. Aang threw himself on the grass, making Momo fly off his shoulders and back to Masami.

"**I never thought I'd miss grass this much!"** Aang cried, rolling around on the grass, looking at the females walked over. He smiled up at Masami, who smiled back.

**"It's really warm here."** Masami noted.

"**It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land." **Yue told them. Masami saw Aang looking into the water, and he then looked to them, and then Momo hopped from Masami shoulder's and reached for the fish. The females looked harshly, and he screeched and flew off.

**"You're right, Yue. I can feel something it's so tranquil." **Aang said, as he moved to sit in a meditative position. The females kept talking, and he then looked back over at them,

"**I can hear every word you are saying! I can't concintrate!"** He snapped, looking back towards the water. He seemed to zone out, and he began to glow from the tattoos. They were both confused, but Sokka's word's echoed in her head,

"**He crossed over…"** Masami said, they couldn't do much for him now…He was on his own, but she would watch his body, nothing would happen to him while she was around.

XOXO

Katherine Clarke January 22 at 7:06pm

Uncle had wished them well and given both of them a huge hug before watching them lower themselves down into the water. Like any wise, concerned man, he'd insisted on shouting advise down to them as they lowered themselves. Some of his helpful tips included:

"Keep your hoods up!"

"Keep each other warm!"

"Don't run with spears...or anything else particularly sharp!"

After the last one, Zuko had replied that they'd be fine and shushed him. It was unfortunate that they hadn't originally planned for two people to make the trip. If that had been the case, perhaps they could have found a kayak meant for two people. But it wasn't the case, so Zuko and Kali were very uncomfortable as they slipped through the water quietly toward the Water Tribe. They sat back to back, with Zuko facing forward and propelling them towards the huge wall of ice. Noting the guards all along the wall, they made their way slowly towards the wall, frequently stopping to hide behind the icebergs that dotted the sea near them. Finally they made it to a good spot on the mainland (land? more like main-ice) hidden from the guards' view. They set the kayak to one side and began searching for a good way to enter the city undetected. Then, Zuko spotted it. Kali, however, did not. What she saw was a deathtrap.

Zuko pointed to the turtleseal hole. "Where are they going? They have to be coming up for air somewhere." He stood just over the hole the turtleseals had gone through and pulled down his veil. Kali grabbed his arm, whispering fiercely.

"Whoa. Wait a moment. What do you think you're doing? Just because a turtleseal can make it through there, doesn't mean you can. They can hold their breath for a really long time. That hole could lead to a tunnel of death for us if it's too long!"

He turned, a fierce look of determination on his face.

"I don't see any other way to get in and we're wasting time! Either we go this way or I go alone and you stay here and get nothing done."

She glared back at him.

"You don't know that's where it leads."

"But I do know we're wasting time. I'm going in."

He jerked his arm away from her and quickly dove into the hole. She stared after him for a few seconds. That crazy idiot! What is he thinking? What is WRONG with him?! She sighed. A lot, she reminded herself, then stared down at the hole some more, hoping for him to reappear. When he didn't after a few more painfully long seconds, she sighed again, calming herself and struggling to master her fear of the water and the ice. Before they'd left, she'd promised Uncle that, so long as they were working together to get inside the Water Tribe's city, she'd do whatever she could to help Zuko. It would only be once they got inside that they'd split up. She looked down at the hole again, shivered from fear rather than cold, and took the deepest breath she could. I'm committing suicide on behalf of an egocentric jerk, she thought. Then she dove in after him.

The trip through the tunnel was intense, terrifying, and seemed to last forever. Her entire body burned from the freezing water around her. She looked around futilely for Zuko as she followed the tunnel to split. Spotting what looked like a break in the ice through one tunnel, she lunged towards it, her arms and legs working harder than they'd ever worked before as she felt her lungs fighting to break free from her body. Finally, she burst through what, graciously, turned out to, indeed, be another hole in the ice, gasping and listening to the loud throbbing of her heartbeat in her head. After a moment of reaffirming her existence in this world and checking with her body to make sure to make sure it was still able to function, she hauled herself out of the water and lay on the ground next to where she saw Zuko recovering similarly. He was using the Breath of Fire technique Uncle had told him to use to heat himself up. Kali, having never had a master to teach her, had never learned how to breath fire and hadn't seen anyone do it up until she'd met Zuko and Uncle. She lay on the ground shivering violently, still gasping for air. She realized that she loved air. She also realized that being trapped under ice in the water had officially joined being lost in the open sea as one of her top fears. She never wanted to do it again. Zuko got up and shouted at the noisy turtleseals to be quiet. Surprisingly, they did as he asked. He pushed past them and walked slowly over to where water was pouring in through an opening in the icy wall. Kali had another realization. She was going to have to do it again.

As Zuko hoisted himself up into the opening, against the water's flow, Kali took several more deep breaths to at least regain a normal breathing pace and heart rate before she pushed herself again. She watched as he disappeared into the opening then slowly walked forward and took another deep breath. This was even worse, because not only was she holding her breath longer than she'd known she was capable of but she was struggling to walk through water against water's push. Masami and her waterbending flashed through Kali's mind as she followed Zuko upward. She could just barely see him as she squinted her eyes against the rushing water. Then, abruptly, he disappeared from sight. She climbed higher and had almost reached what she could just barely make out as the end of the tunnel when she slipped and fell back a little ways. She opened her mouth slightly to gasp before she bit back against the instinctual motion. All the same, water flowed into her mouth and she started to choke. Now desperate beyond 'desperate (as regularly defined), her body took on a life of its own as her legs and arms stretched and strained with new energy and her insides screamed at her that whoever was up there in the brain calling the shots was insane and ought to be fired. At last, she reached the end of the water's siege against her body and floated quickly up to surface next to Zuko under some ice. Her body continued to control her as her mind attempted to regain its composure and she found she couldn't seem to see at the moment. She could feel herself spitting out water and gasping huge gasps of stagnant air. Zuko, for once, was kind enough to wait for her, evidently noting the near-death glassy look in her eyes and her loud choking and gasping. Finally, she recovered her vision and her mind. Breathing heavily, she looked over at his impatient face. Strangely, out of all her fleeting thoughts at that moment, the one her brain chose for her to say was, "Wonder how long this hair has been trapped under here?" Hmmm, maybe her mind was still a little out of sorts from the lack of air. It was only later that it occurred to her just how lucky they were it had been there. After another moment of impatient waiting, Zuko ducked his head under the water, looked around, then dove back down towards what appeared to be the entrance to yet another tunnel. Kali stared palely after him, still gasping. She took her another few moments, knowing if she didn't, then she'd probably drown this time no matter what. Then, with no alternative, she followed him. She found him soon and the knot in the pit of her stomach tightened even more powerfully, making her want to vomit. They were trapped under the ice this time, with no hole or air trapped under the ice there to save them. She and Zuko exchanged horrified looks before they both remembered something. She lifted her arms at the same time as Zuko. The ice gave way as the heat from their hands melted it. They pushed out together and, once again, gasped heavily. Kali looked out of the small aqueduct they appeared to be in and felt a brief and powerful happiness. They were alive! And they were inside the city! No more holding her breath and swimming under the ice! She couldn't help but smile. Then she remembered and her smile vanished, the moment of happiness over. She'd just given herself away. But as she turned to look at Zuko to explain, she saw in his eyes that he hadn't noticed. He'd taken credit for the ice melting as quickly as it did and so, she wasn't given away yet. After resting up, they stood and cautiously entered the city from the aqueduct. There weren't many sentries posted inside the wall and most people appeared to be asleep or at least at home. They quietly snuck through the city, searching for signs of the Avatar and Masami. With no luck yet, the had just turned another corner when Kali heard voices. Realizing Zuko hadn't heard them and was about to move on, she grabbed him and pulled him back just in time to avoid being seen by a pair of Water Tribe warriors. They were talking about some secret mission they were glad not to be a part of and about a couple of people named Hahn and Sokka (Sokka? Wasn't that the name of the Water Tribe boy who traveled with Masami and the Avatar?). She glanced back to where she pushed Zuko in time to see him push her back.

**"Oof!"** She stumbled out in front of the two men, who looked at her stunned. She stared at them awkwardly and looked back to see Zuko disappearing around the corner. THAT SON-Of-A-! She didn't have time to finish the thought before the two men shouted and, instead of grabbing some sort of weapon she could defend against with her swords, reached for the water and ice that surrounded them. Water benders! She stared horrified at the wall of ice and river of water headed her way.

XOXO

Masami stood around, watching Aang. She didn't know what to do now that he was gone. She played with Momo lightly, and looked up as she heard something, or someone coming from outside. She didn't like the sounds they were making. She looked up to see the boy she'd seen in her dreams coming towards her, and it wasn't a look she liked. She knew his face, he was the Prince that wanted Aang…for bad or good reasons, and she guessed the reasons weren't for a friend. He didn't look like he had too many friends.

"**This will be easier then I thought."** He jeered, looking at the females, meditating Avatar, and lemur. Masami stood, putting her hand in front of Yue,

"**Go get Sokka!"** She said, Yue nodded and ran off. She looked back to the Prince, he was smiling, and she didn't like it at all.

"You must be Masami." He said coldly. She nodded,

"You're the Fire Nation Prince that has my sister, but to what extent of you having her, I'm not sure." She said, crossing her arms. He furrowed his brow.

"I'm not sure what you are implying, but I don't like it." She smiled,

"Don't you?" She said, rocking forward on her feet. Before anything else could be said, he seemed to snap (not that he wasn't already crazy) and send flames flying her direction. She whipped water in front of her, and froze it, sliding out of the way as she'd been taught to by Master Poophead, err, Pakku.

"You're better then I expected." She rolled her eyes, and sent water flying at him, and she didn't realize how much the moon had helped her until now. She kept up surprisingly well, trapping him a few times…but then, the sun rose. He got away from her,

"As the moon helps you, the sun does me the same favor." He said with a sneer, before she was sent flying, and she could remember no more.

XOXO

Kali ran through the city at full speed. This was becoming an exhausting night. She didn't want to fight and, besides, they had the advantage with the moon still up. Ice seemed to stab out at her everywhere, water seemed to be tripping her, trying to grab her. There was no hiding it now. She blocked a flying set of vicious icicles with a fiery kick and darted behind a building, then hastily punched several times at nearly objects in the hopes that it would slow down the water benders. It didn't and suddenly, as she ran, she was frozen in midair, her feet latched to the ground. An older man, with a bald top with long hair all around and a beard, stepped from the shadows of one of the buildings and stalked towards her. She glanced all around as he raised his arms, evidently preparing to sink her into the ice. Frantically, she lashed out at a fountain next to him, causing it to fall towards him. As he reacted to it, changing it into liquid, she freed her feet and rushed towards a nearby bridge. The bridge disappeared, however, as she reached it and she found herself (carried by her momentum) leaping over the area it had been instead. She fell into the water just short of it and felt the water benders begin to manipulate it into ice. She got out just in time and turned, doing a dragon tail kick like she'd seen Zuko perform before. The flames shot across the water and forced the two water benders apart as the older man joined them. He seemed to be more powerful than them and she raced around another building, stumbling in her efforts to escape the icy spikes, which were now being thrust closer and closer to her. With every step, she feared she'd be skewered and her life over. Stupid Zuko. Using her as a distraction. She understood his desire to lose her in order to capture Aang but still, was it really necessary to put her purposely in danger of dying?! A spike grazed her left arm, leaving a deep cut from her wrist to a little over her elbow. Another spike shot out of the side of a house and nearly took her head off as she ducked under it. To make things worse, the rest of the city was waking up. She ran directly into a pretty girl with silvery white hair who was running through the streets almost as frantically as she was.

**"AGHHH!"**

**"Sorry about that!"** cried Kali, as she recovered from the fall without even slowing her pace. Finally as she passed a large statue and ran around a house, she paused to wait for the master the turn the corner. This had to end. She climbed onto the roof and waited. As he turned the corner, he paused, searching for her. She jumped down behind and, as he turned to face her, punched him in the face. Fortunately, Kali had gotten into enough fights over time that she'd cultivated a rather good slug. She didn't want to actually hurt him with fire or anything like that so she simply slugged him. He stumbled backward, obviously caught of guard, and grabbed his face. Knowing this was her best chance; she leapt towards him and knocked him all the way to the ground. She grabbed his arms in an attempt to stop him from bending and was about to try to figure out how to tie them when she was nearly hit by a boomerang. She looked over to see the boy her sister traveled with, Sokka, rushing towards her, followed by the girl with white hair. "You!" he yelled,

**"You're with Zuko!"** The master, taking advantage of her distraction, launched a huge river of water at her and pressed her against the house. He froze her to the side of the house and appeared to be considering freezing her face over when Sokka stopped him.

**"She might be useful in capturing Zuko,"** he said, "Zuko might be a horrible guy but maybe we can use her to barter for Aang, if it comes to that."

Kali couldn't help it. Despite the horrible situation she was in and the fact that she was currently developing hypothermia, she laughed. Loud and hard. Sokka looked at her like she was food that eats people.

She grinned idiotically at him.

**"You really think Zuko cares about me? He's the reason I'm stuck in this position in the first place. He pushed me out in front of those people purposely just so I'd be a distraction while he found the Avatar. Plus, he didn't want me interfering, seeing as how I'm only with him so I can find Masami and make sure she's okay."**

Sokka stared at her open-mouthed and the girl with him looked surprised as well. Even the master raised an eyebrow at her.

**"But you're a fire bender!"** yelled Sokka, then turned to the others,

**"We can't trust her. She's with Zuko."**

He turned back to the girl.

**"Come on, we have to get Appa and make sure Aang and Masami are okay."  
**  
They ran off and she soon saw the sky bison soaring up towards the back of the city. As she looked up at the bison, she saw something else of great importance. It was the sun. Daybreak had finally come. Gathering herself, she broke out of the ice, startling the master and others who'd gathered around her. She did a spiraling kick, then leapt back onto the roof of the house and began jumping rooftops. This is ridiculous, she thought to herself. The others started to follow her but after she'd gotten closer to the back, she hastily jumped down from the roofs then ran for the place that she'd seen the bison flying towards. She could see that there was a tiny door which seemed to lead to where she needed to go. She looked behind her to see if she was being followed, then darted through the door.

She was stunned to see grass and other plants in the large outdoor room. It was surprisingly warm. She hurried across a little bridge and spotted Masami lying on the ground unconscious.

**"Masami!"**

She ran to her side and held her up as she began to come to. The bison landed next to her with a thud and Sokka jumped down, launching himself at her with a war cry.

**"Aaaaaaahhhhaahhhhh!"**

She tried to duck and hold Masami at the same time and the result was that, instead of pouncing on her, he simply landed on top of her.

**"Get off!'**

She flung him back as Masami came to and looked up at her, her face startled.

**"Kali? KALI!"**

Kali felt like her back was about to be broken as her sister hugged her with her traditional platypus-bear hug.  
**  
"AARRRRRGGGGGGHHH!!!"**

Pain had never been so welcome.

Masami smushed her sister as Sokka lifted himself up and stared at them

"Your sister is a fire bender." He said flatly. Masami nodded,

"Thank you for informing me of something I've known my whole life." She returned. He didn't know what to say,

"Does Aang know about this!?" He cried angrily. She nodded, giggling,

"Yeah, actually he does." Sokka didn't seem to believe her, but it was the truth. She'd told Aang long ago. Speaking of Aang…he was gone. She hung her head defeatedly,

"Where's Aang?" Sokka asked her. She sighed,

"The scary Prince got them I guess…" She trailed off sadly. Yue still looked optimistic,

"The weather is terrible! They couldn't have gotten far!" She urged. They all nodded, and climbed on the bison. Appa flew off, and Momo went too, landing on Masami's head, and cocking his head cutely at Kali.

"Whose this?" She asked, reaching her hand towards Momo, who squealed and reached for her hand, looking for food, upon finding none, looked down to Masami and squeaked again.

"This is Momo. He's Aang's." She said, upon mentioning Aang's name seemed a bit sad again,

"What is it with you and the Avatar?" Kali asked, grinning, Masami's head shot up, and she made a face.

"Nothing!" She said, crossing her arms, Sokka spoke up,

"Yeah right! They're all over each other!" He said,

"Shut up and drive Sokka." Masami nagged, Kali smiled,

"Alright, whatever you say Masami." They all looked down as they heard sounds coming from beneath them.

"Appa!" Came a small male voice from the ground.

"Sokka, land!" Masami commanded as they hurled towards the ground where an angry fire prince was holding a crawling Aang. Masami slide out of the saddle, and she was closely followed by Kali.

"Come for a rematch?" Zuko sneered. She narrowed her eyes,

"Hardly." She said, sending ice flying his direction, and it appeared to hit him in the right, or wrong place, because he was out. Masami flew to Aang's side, and embraced as he was let free.

"I'm sorry." She said, placing her head into his shoulder,

"It's okay! Really, I'm fine, see?" He said, holding out his hands and smiling. Masami's eyes glittered with relieved tears, and before she could stop herself, she'd grabbed Aang's chin, tilted his face, and connected their lips. As they pulled away, both parties blushed,

"Maybe I should get kidnapped more often." Aang said with a giggle.

XOXO

Kali looked at them relieved. Her sister was okay and Zuko hadn't hurt the Avatar any. She thought it was really sweet that Masami had fallen for Aang. He seemed to return the feelings too, the way he blushed appreciatively when she kissed him. It was cute. They climbed back on Appa, Sokka carrying the rope Zuko had tied Aang up with, obviously pleased to have gained such "quality rope." Masami motioned for her to join them and she looked back at Zuko.

"I can't just leave him," she said, frowning and rushing over to hoist him up, "If I do, he'll die."

Sokka was on his feet instantly.

"See, I told you! She's with him! She can't be trusted."

Masami shot him a dirty look, while Aang looked down at her uneasily.

"No, she's right. He'll die if we leave him behind. It just...feels wrong."

Sokka scowled.

"Yeah, this makes a lot of sense! Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us."

As Kali climbed up onto Appa, dragging Zuko up with her, she looked up at them.

"I made a promise to try to help keep him safe, at least during the times when I wasn't trying to protect other people from him. Letting him die seems like it would be breaking my promise. Besides...I'm not a big fan of death, myself."

Sokka gestured at her.

"I suppose you don't want to tie him up either because then he'll be uncomfortable?!"

She smiled at him.

"No, by all means, hand me the rope."

He glanced at the others before handing it to her. She turned Zuko over and bound his hands and feet together tightly, in such a way that she hoped would be VERY uncomfortable for him once he woke up. Masami smirked at her and opened her mouth to say something Kali suspected would be peculiar and annoying about the bondage, so she quickly shot her an angry look and said, "I can think of plenty of reasons why I would like him to be uncomfortable, not the least of which would be that he almost got me killed earlier." Appa flew off back towards the Water Tribe's city, where by now, there was no doubt a huge battle raging. They'd spent a long time searching for Zuko and Aang in the blizzard and the days here were short and the nights long. As they cleared the blizzard, Kali could see that the moon had already risen up again. It looked lovely, but Kali couldn't help but feel a chill of fear running down her spine remembering how powerful the water benders who'd chased her had been with its help. She'd heard Zhao and Uncle talking about the power the moon lended to the water benders, so she understood how it worked now, more or less. As she stared at it, the moon suddenly went completely red and the reddish glow seemed to cover the world.

Yue (Sokka's white-haired friend) and Aang cringed together in response to it. Kali sat by Zuko's unconscious form while Yue told them of how the moon spirit had saved her life as a baby, lending her some of its life. She learned of the two spirits living as fish in the pond she'd seen earlier and how one of them was being threatened now.

As the landed back in the warm area of grass where the pond was located, she saw Zhao below holding up a flailing bag and heard him speaking.

"I...am a legend now! The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Moon-slayer! Zhao the INVINCIBLE!!!"

As they landed, to her delight, she noticed that Momo, who'd been sitting on her shoulder a moment before, had flown down and pounced on Zhao's head. Zhao shouted in surprise and flailed about as his soldiers attempted to help him remove Momo. She grinned. She liked that little lemur a lot. Momo flew back to Aang as they all took fighting stances across the pond from Zhao. Zhao looked up at them.

"Don't bother," he said and held his fist up as if to strike the bag with the spirit in it. They froze.

"Zhao, don't!" cried Aang.

"It's my destiny," Zhao said, "to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe."

"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It'll hurt everybody, including you."

Just then, a familiar voice reached Kali's ears.

"He is right, Zhao." Uncle stepped forward the little bridge.

"General Iroh. Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao scowled at him.

"I'm not traitor, Zhao! The Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance," Uncle said, then assumed a fighting pose, "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you ten-fold! Let it go, NOW!"

Kali had never seen Uncle look so fierce. She stared at Zhao, who faltered after a moment and placed the fish back into the water, restoring the moon to normal. Then suddenly his look changed to mask of ferocity and, before anyone could stop him, he struck a vicious blow at the fish and the moon disappeared. General Iroh (for the first time, she saw the title make sense for him) sprung at them instantly and dispatched the soldiers easily as Zhao fled into the bushes. Kali heard movement to her right and caught sight of Zuko, freed from his bonds, racing after him. She paused to look at the others, caught Uncle's eye and nodded towards where Zuko and Zhao had run off. He sighed, looked behind him towards where they'd gone, then looked back at her.

"Please. He's improved much but I do not trust Zhao to fight honorably. I cannot go after him now."

Her shoulders sagged and she looked at Masami, who returned a confused look. She sighed.

"I'll be back. I've got a stupid jerk to look after. My promise still holds." She nodded to Uncle, who nodded back gratefully, then turned his gaze to the dead, stricken fish in his hands.

She hastily raced off in the direction the admiral and the prince had gone.

Masami didn't like this man, at all. Sideburns was a jerk, and before she could register much, there was a flash, and then there was a dead fish. The world around them turned into an intimidating shade of black. Masami didn't know what was going on, but she saw the older man, seemingly known by Kali, lift the fish. The man's face mirrored how everyone felt, and Yue spoke desperately,

"There's no hope now. It's over."** She heard Yue say and Sokka comforted her, but before anyone else could speak, a voice unlike anything she'd heard from Aang came from his body,**

"No, it's not over."** He croaked, walking towards the pond. He walked into the middle and Masami reached for him, but withdrew her hand. She held it towards her, and she saw the Aang looking at the fish, and then he feel into the pond, which sprang to life with light. She put her arm over her eyes, and as she looked back, there was a large, scaly giant fish before her; eyes' glowing like Aang's had. She didn't know what to make of this, but she didn't really have time to make much of anything out of it, for he was gone.**

**XOXO**

Kali scowled as she came to a split in her path. Which way had they gone? She had no idea but she kept running anyway and chose the left way haphazardly. A moment later, she realized it was definitely the wrong way. A group of Water Tribe men, women, and children were backed against a wall, terrified as four fire benders advanced on them. With the moon gone, the Water Tribe found themselves unable to bend at all and the fire benders couldn't be stopped. Kali's shuddered, remembering Zhao's orders that all of the tribe members were to be killed if possible. He intended for them to be completely annihilated, wiped off the face of the world. As the fire benders paused, readying their death attack on the horrified people, Kali saw that they'd stopped beneath a bridge. She darted out in front of them, sending two streams of fire at either side of the bridge as they let loose a ferocious blast directly aimed at her. She crossed her arms in defensive position against the blaze, pushed backward against the other people by its power. The bridge, meanwhile, collapsed on top of the fire benders. Seeing that they appeared to be knocked out for the moment, Kali rushed past them as the startled tribe members stared at her. She reached another intersection and, realizing she was wasting time, she jumped up onto a house and looked around. On a raised platform far above her, she spotted Zuko and Zhao fighting. Making a note of what looked to be the best way to reach them, she slid back down to the ground and ran across a nearby bridge. Kahn abruptly stumbled in her path.

"Kali?"

She looked at his confused, wet face and knew he had no idea of what to do right now. He looked like he'd taken a painful swim. His arm needed bandaging and she stepped forward to see how serious it was. As she did so, she was stunned to see an enormous watery, fish-like figure making its way through the city. Kahn and she stood still for a moment, looking up at in awe. She squinted, seeing something in the middle. The Avatar. But he didn't look like himself exactly and his arrow tattoos were glowing. He sent huge waves of water through the city, wiping out Fire Nation soldiers everywhere. She knew the Fire Nation had lost this battle and felt a brief instance of comfort. Her thoughts returned to Kahn. She gripped his uninjured arm and pulled his reluctant form towards where she knew a long path led towards the ships. Looking up into his face, she put on her best commanding attitude.

"Kahn. Go down that path. You need to get yourself back on one of the ships and get away from here. Understand me?!"

He stared, dazed, at her for a moment, then nodded firmly and took off down the path towards what she hoped would be safety for him. She returned to running towards her original goal, hoping the fish wouldn't notice her. She struggled not to look down at the dead and injured of both sides she was passing. She had nearly reached their platform when she was startled by another familiar voice.

"Kali?"

She looked down to see Obi, blood streaked across his face, his helmet torn off, an icy spike protruding from his side.

"Obi!" She shouted, ducking away from the people frantically running past her and knelt beside him. She tried to gently prod him off the spike but he shook his head and pushed her away.

"Don't...waste your time...with me...Where's...Garron?"

"Garron?" Kali stared down at his pale face and looked around for his brother. He was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know, Obi," she said softly, holding him close, "I'll go find him, maybe he can help you."

She had a sinking feeling as she looked down at his wound and felt her eyes begin to blur.

"Can't...miss'im..." Obi seemed to faze out for a moment, then suddenly lifted his face, "Found...Fireball?"

She stared down at him for a second, unable to believe that he was thinking of that at a time like this.

"I-Yeah, Obi. I got him off the ship. He's okay. I'll..." she choked, unable to finish her sentence as the tears fell from her face.

"S'good. Tell...Garron...said g'bye..."

Numbly, she held his cold hand and watched him slip away. She wanted to sit there and sob over the loss of a good friend, a good person, but she couldn't. She forced herself to let go of him, knowing she'd never forget the sight of his blood-streaked face, the white snow drifting down on it. She felt as if her world was being swallowed in ice and cold as she looked around at the grimly surreal scene around her. The dead were everywhere and the sounds of the injured filled the air. She'd tried to ignore it, but Obi's death made it impossible. Realizing she couldn't stay here, she looked back up at where her charge seemed to be getting the upper hand over the admiral. The ice inside her boiled abruptly. Zhao needed to pay for all the pain and loss he'd caused. If Zuko didn't take him down, she would.

XOXO

Masami moved closer to the pond, and she dropped to her knees at the older man placed the fish back in the pond, and it floated. She dropped her head, her eyes mirroring the darkness of the world at this moment. The Moon was gone, so the water bending nation could well be doomed. She didn't like that thought, as much as she hated water, she had been accepted here. She had a master here, and she had this place to thank for the happiness of her friend Sokka. He had found himself someone, as she had, and she would be grateful for the rest of her life for that. It was a good feeling, and things of that calaber were so rare in a sad world as the one they lived in…Life itself was fragilfe, and they could never forget that. As quickly as it was there, it could be gone again.

"It's dead." Masami said lightly reaching out an touching the floating fish, it's blood coating her fingers. She looked up as the man looked over her head.

"You have been touched by the Moon Spirit. Some of its life is in you!" **He said to Yue, she nodded, looking at the blank sky.**

"Yes, you're right. It gave me life. Maybe I can give it back."** Masami's face fell, as did most of Sokka's body. He reached for her, pulling her away from the doom she was headed towards.**

"No! You don't have to do that!" **He cried,**

"It's my duty, Sokka." **She urged him, holding his hands.**

"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you!" **He fought, trying to pull her away still. She smiled lightly, looking up again.**

"I have to do this." **She said with a note of finality, dropping his hands, and turning to the water. She dropped to her knees, and she laid her hands on the fallen spirit. It began to glow, and her breath was gone, her body falling lifelessly towards Sokka. He cried out,**

"NO!"** Before he caught her, but it was no use, she was gone. But just as she was gone, the moon had returned. A life for a life. Masami looked up, and her eyes burned as she heard a voice, she looked back. There was a spirit in their presences, it was Yue.**

"Goodbye, Sokka. I will always be with you." **She told him with a kiss, and then she was gone.**

**XOXO**

Katie

XOXO

The scene was horrific. The city was obliterated, and Masami hadn't seen a scene like this since the monsoon claimed her family. She was approached by Pakku. She looked up at him, and she smiled sadly,

"I've decided to go to the South Pole. Some other benders and healers want to join me. It's time we helped rebuild our sister tribe." **He admonished. She looked confused.**

"What about Aang? He still needs to learn water bending." **She urged. He smiled, patting her head,**

"Well, then he better get used to calling you Master."** He smiled, and he turned away. She could feel her face light up with a pink shade, and she looked at her feet, that could have been easier said then done, she didn't want Aang calling her anything. Away from them, she could hear Sokka and the Chief talking about Yue.**

"The Spirits gave me a vision when Yue was born. I saw a beautiful, brave young woman become the Moon Spirit. I knew this day would come. " ** He said sadly, Sokka spoke after, **

"You must be proud."

"_So _proud. And sad." **The chief finished. Such was life, Masami guessed. This world made them far too serious for their own good, and that was the life they had chosen. She bowed one last time to Pakku,**

"Thank you for everything, Master." **She smiled as he laid his hand on her head, and he nodded, moving away from her. She moved towards the group, and she also bowed to the Chief and gave her condolences about Yue. She joined Aang next to Appa, and she felt herself blush when he reached out and intertwined their fingers. He pulled her a step closer, and they stood there, waiting on the others, and she couldn't help herself from smiling happily. She had seen her sister, and they had all lived, she was glad this was going well, in a really weird way.**

**XOXO**

Kali looked out solemnly over the wrecked ships intermingled with the icebergs and wearily hoped no one she'd known had been on them. She and Uncle paddled the tiny little raft along quietly as Zuko looked back behind them.

**"I am surprised, Prince Zuko. Surprised that you are not at this moment trying to capture the Avatar,"** said Uncle, giving Zuko a weird, concerned look.

**"I'm tired,"** stated Zuko. Aren't we all? thought Kali.

**"Then you should rest,"** said Uncle gently, **"A man needs his rest."**

Zuko laid down and closed his eyes. To flames with that! Thought Kali sourly, He shouldn't rest. He should be up helping us push and steer this thing along!

She closed her eyes as she and Uncle slowly pushed them out to sea. She knew all the pain of the day within her was numbed currently by the very virtue of their being too much to take in at the moment. Soon enough, though, she was sure it'd all hit her and hard. And, of course, as if things weren't bad enough already, where were they headed? Out into the ocean. On a flimsy, little raft. With hardly any food and water. Into the ocean. Away from her sister. Away from the battlefield. But not away from the battle and its losses. She would always have the losses.


	6. Her sisters the nut with Zuko right?

They were traveling with other water benders, this should have been more exciting to Masami, but she couldn't say being on a boat with mass amounts of men was her idea of a great time. She had though, enjoyed the time she'd had with Aang. Since she'd nearly lost him to the crazy pyromanicatic royal she was glad to have him back.

She leaned against the railing of the ship a day or so after they had left the North, the sun was setting and she was enjoying watching the sky. She could feel eyes on her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Aang standing behind her, shifting awkwardly, she smiled warmly and looked to him as he walked over and leaned beside her.

"**Hi."** He said, blushing. She furrowed her brow, smiling lightly,

"**Hi yourself. What're you blushing about?"** She asked with a giggled as he stuttered,

"**I just w-w-w-anted to say hi!"** She smiled, and she looked back out over the water. They hadn't talked about the kiss since it happened. Masami wouldn't regret it, and she'd do it again if time permitted,

"**Masami…when you kissed me…why? I mean, I didn't not like it, I liked it a lot, because I was flattered, and I like you a lot, you're my friend, and I know you don't just kiss friends, unless you like to kiss friends, then it's okay, but I mean…"** He was so flustered, it made her smile. She laughed, and she looked at his adorable face,

"**I kissed you because I was happy to see you. I don't just kiss anyone. It was my first kiss actually, and I enjoyed it. I was scared I'd lost you, and I was happy I didn't. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I lost you Aang, I care about you."** She said, looking him in the eyes. His face broke into a smile, and he scooted subtly closer to her, and he laced his fingers through hers,

"**I care about you too, I tried to tell you earlier, but I didn't know how."** He said, smiling at her in a sideways glance. She chewed her lip, and before she could think, he had her lips in a small kiss. He tried to pull away, embarrassed, and she smiled warmly,

"**Sor-" **Before he could finish his sentence, she had her arms around his neck, and moved back towards him, him sliding his arms around her waist with a contented smile and sigh. As they broke apart they leaned against the rail, watching the sunset, hands still intertwined.

XOXO

They had been trapped on that wretched raft a couple of days now. Uncle was stubbornly confident that he knew exactly where he was going based on where they'd left the north pole and the direction of the sun and the stars and whatnot. Zuko was stubbornly confident that as soon as they reached land (if they EVER reached land) he was immediately off to find the Avatar. Kali was stubbornly confident that she felt seasick, wanted off this nightmare, and that she might have to seriously consider pushing Zuko off the raft if he mentioned the Avatar or her sister one more time.

**"I would have had the Avatar if your sister hadn't gotten in the way! Her and that blizzard**!" he said distastefully.

**"I wouldn't have been stabbed by an icicle if you hadn't pushed me out in front of those water benders! I almost got killed because of you, you jerk!" **She withheld some of the more choice words she had in mind for him.

**"If you weren't so intent on getting in my way, maybe I wouldn't have! And don't you call me names! I'm royalty!"**

She clenched her teeth together and struggled to keep her patience.

"**Maybe if you weren't so intent on capturing an innocent 12-year-old kid who my sister cares about, I wouldn't get in your way. And also, your Highness, as far as I'm concerned, the only way you're royal is when you're being a ROYAL PAIN. Which, coincidentally, seems to be something you do constantly."**

They glared at each other, then he deliberately turned his face away from her and she followed suit, both of them paddling more fiercely then they had been before. The wind was on their side today, so they were making faster progress than usual. Uncle, despite their arguments, was sleeping sounding and snoring so loud he could be heard over the waves. Kali had started to deliberately schedule her sleeping time at night to coincide with Zuko's, so she'd actually be able to sleep. They paddled along without saying another word to each other for the rest of their shift together.

XOXO

The days following their kiss had been some of the happiest in Masami's memory. They spent most of their waking moments together, and one night they were the last to go to sleep, and when they got below deck, someone had stolen her hammock, and she ended up sharing with Aang. They curled up together, and she places her arms around his middle. The hammock felt a bit unsteady, seemingly unphased she fell asleep quickly, but while she was partly awake when she felt him shift a bit, putting his arms around her,

He kissed the top of her head, and he rested his head there, pulling her closer,

"**I'm lucky to have you Masami."** He whispered, kissing her head again, laying his on top of hers, and slowly fading off to sleep himself. Despite her nearly sleeping state, she felt her eyes well with happy tears and she let one slip down her face. She didn't know what her sister was doing now, but she wanted her to be happy where she was, she wished her the best, and she hoped she could make the angry rotten scary prince come around, and maybe be the good person everyone had potential to be.

XOXO

The moon had risen high when Zuko and Kali finally took their break and left the steering to Uncle. The wind was still supporting them fortunately. Uncle looked worried when he got up but they were both too tired to ask him what about. They lay down on the raft, on either sides of the mast, facing away from each other. Kali looked up at the moon tiredly and thought of the moon spirit. Uncle had told her how Sokka's pretty friend had sacrificed herself to become the new moon spirit. Thinking of death, Kali's thoughts turned to Obi and his last request. She hadn't gotten to see Garron to tell him Obi said good-bye and that he'd also said he missed him at one point. She wondered sadly if she'd ever get to tell him that. Tears dripped down her face thinking of the crew and the battle and Water Tribe, then she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

Later that night, she was startled awake by the raft jolting. She could feel herself clutching something warm and felt fingers digging into her as well. And cinnamon breath. They opened their eyes at the same time, startled to find themselves grasping each other so closely. Uncle was staring down at them, a slight smile playing across his lips as he watched their faces blush then contort abruptly as they yanked away from each other. Kali, realizing she could hardly see anything but for the small ball of fire Uncle was holding, looked up at the sky and realized why they had been jolted awake. They were caught in the middle of a storm. Smile gone, Uncle shouted to them,

**"I need both of you awake so you can help me steady the raft! We're in for a rough night**!" They all held tightly to the mast while Kali and Zuko grabbed the paddles and Uncle held up the fire for them to see. They clung tightly to the raft as lightning flashed jaggedly across the sky, thunder boomed, and large waves crashed all around them.

**"If we are to make it though this!"** shouted Uncle,

**"I'm going to need both of you to be ready to propel us with bending whichever direction I tell you to! Understand?!"**

Kali looked at him, surprised. He nodded to her and she knew he'd found out some how that she could bend. For all she knew, maybe he'd known for a while. She'd have to ask him about it later. She nodded back as Zuko looked at her in mutual surprise.

**"Understood,"** she responded.

XOXO

The next nights had been peaceful for Masami, but Aang was a different story. The nightmares that plagued him so often seemed to have returned. Aang never liked to try sleeping in a hammock so one night, he and Masami sat on the deck, Aang curled up at her side, sleeping restlessly. She looked up as someone spoke,

"**He's no better?"** It was Sokka. She shook her head sadly, shifting Aang more into her lap so Sokka could sit.

"**I don't know what else to do about him, Sokka."** She said sadly to him. He nodded,

"**I don't either."** He whispered, leaning his head against the railing, looking up at the waning moon. She looked up too,

"**You miss her."** She spoke matter-oh-factly. He nodded sadly,

"**She's always with you, Sokka."** Masami assured him. He smiled lightly,

"**She is. She always will be. Right here."** He continued, putting his hand over his heart. For the first time in the time that she'd known him, she respected his maturity.

XOXO

**"Kali!"** shouted Uncle. Holding on to the mast with one hand and aiming with the other, Kali shot out a stream of fire, propelling them to the right so that they just narrowly missed getting hit by a huge wave. A moment later,

**"Zuko!"** Zuko complied and they shot towards the left, avoiding another wave. The ocean seemed to be getting worse though and it made Kali think of that night on Zuko's ship when they'd been struck by lightning and she'd dove overboard to save Zuko from drowning. There was no ship to go back to this time.

The wind ripped their makeshift sail free of the mast and tossed it away. Rain pelted them from above and the ocean splashed all about them, drenching them completely. With just Uncle's fire to see by, they could only just make out each others' faces. Lightning streaked across the sky jaggedly and Kali couldn't help but have a strong conviction that they were going to die. She wondered if the ocean spirit was in on this for a moment, then decided that was ridiculous.

She gasped as an enormous wave rose up directly in their path. She and Zuko looked to Uncle for orders as he too stood gaping at it for a moment. Then he turned to them,

**"BOTH OF YOU! TOGETHER, DIRECTLY BEHIND US! WE MUST CLEAR THE WAVE!"** They stared, horror struck, at him then hastily turned around and together, blasted the fire behind them as powerfully as they could. They began to climb the wave. Kali struggled to keep her jet steady and could see Zuko was having the same problem. They rose higher and higher over the ocean and Kali bit back a scream fiercely while the sounds of chaos and the wind's howling filled her ears. Just as she thought they wouldn't make it, Uncle swung down beside Zuko and shot a jet of force equal to both of theirs. They flew over the crest of the wave just as it began to crash down.

Hours later, they finally arrived out of the storm, missing half a mast and a sail and completely drenched and exhausted.

**"We must make a new sail,"** said Uncle and removed his coat. Zuko and Kali followed suit and they hastily connected the coats all together into an even worse sail then what they'd started with.

**"That'll do for now,"** sighed Uncle wearily. They all flopped down on the raft, spent. It was still cloudy though and with their jackets off and the North Pole not too far behind them, they were freezing. After a little while of laying there panting, they all looked at each other. Uncle backed up against the mast.

**"I would suggest that until we get somewhere a little warmer and are not all tired at the same time, we sleep a little closer to each other. It is quite chilly here and I'm afraid I may not sleep if I am not warmer."**

He gave both of them a big grin and held out his arms as if to hug them. They looked at each other reluctantly, then, with resigned groans, scooted closer to Uncle who grabbed them in a bear hug. They then all lay down side by side, packed closely together with Uncle holding them close. Kali saw Zuko on the other side of Uncle look at her as if he wanted to say something but then he appeared to change his mind and lay back down.

XOXO

The sea was all starting to look the same to Masami. She wanted nothing to do with it anymore. She was getting more and more anxious, and she didn't know how Sokka and the water tribe members could live so close to something so unpredictable for their entire lives and be complacent with it. She paced, and she felt the need to rip her hair out. Aang seemed to be a little worried about her, but a bit scared to ask her what was wrong. Sokka stared, an eyebrow cocked, and he spoke to Aang,

"**What's your girlfriend's deal?" **Aang looked up at him, and he shrugged,

"**I think she's just sick of being on the boat…I think this much water at once bothers her."** He said, he fidgeted his hands a bit, he knew more then he was letting on.

"**Why should it? She's a water bender, she should be in heaven."** He pressed. Aang shook his head,

"**You don't understand."** He said, looking at his feet, Sokka spoke again,

"**No, I don't think I do. Enlighten me."** He crossed his arms,

"**When Masami was little, her entire village was wiped out by a flood caused by a monsoon, the only reason she survived was her family left her on the roof of their house, and even then she nearly straved waiting to the waters to receed. She never really got over the anxiety brought on by water, she learned for the betterment of other people, and her sister helped her a lot with that okay, and now that her sister isn't here, I'm the one helping her, but it's things like this that still make her a bit….nervous."** Aang finished, looking up at Sokka,

"**Her sisters the nut with Zuko right?"** Aang nodded,

"**Well then they are both off their rockers then, simple as that."** He said, Aang hung his head and shook it lightly.

"**They aren't crazy Sokka, has she given you any reason to not trust her?"** Aang questioned,

"**Well beyond having a sister in the fire nation, no."** He admitted.

"**She is loyal to us like her sister is to Zuko, it's simple as that."** And Aang was right, at least for Masami's end. Her sister and she were very similar in the regard of respect and loyalty. They had each other's back, and Masami knew she would follow this awkward little group to the ends of the earth if that's what it took to find peace.

XOXO

The three of them had been stuck on the raft together for two weeks now. Kali was beginning to feel like by the end of this trip she'd know them better then she knew Masami. They'd done their best to make their food last, but there'd been so little to begin with. And a few days earlier, Uncle had just snapped and eaten the last rice cake. All of it. She and Zuko had made a point of not talking to him for the rest of the day, until Kali had felt bad because he seemed to be tearing up from the guilt and sadness. They were all rough around the edges at this point, having had so little to eat and drink. They were fortunate that they were able to heat the seawater and separate the water from the nastiness. It still tasted awful, but it was better then dying from thirst. They were limited sleep-wise too, since someone generally had to be up at all times to make sure they kept heading the right direction and didn't get killed. Also, they'd stopped being cold and started being really hot. Literally. The sun shown down on them constantly and, despite being fire-benders whom one would normally assume to prefer the heat, constant sunshine, higher temperatures, the lack of shade, and the lack of wind they'd been experiencing for the past four days had not gone over well with them, especially since they were dressed in clothes for the North Pole still. They'd all ended up ripping their clothing apart, so that they were now dressed much more lightly. Zuko and Uncle had finally just taken their shirts off and ripped their pants down to being shorts. Kali, unwilling to expose herself too much no matter how hot it was, had ripped the sleeves off her shirt, removed her gloves, and also torn her pants down to shorts. Truly, they were quite the stylish group to behold. Kali, for all her drive to reach land, wished they would be able to find new clothes before someone saw them. But she highly doubted that. The thing that made it even more uncomfortable was the way Uncle and Zuko would stare at her sometimes. Whenever they noticed her catching them doing it, they'd both look away abruptly, as if that made it like it'd never happened. They wouldn't say anything when she remarked on it either. It made her very uncomfortable and made her temper grow even shorter, despite her efforts to keep a level head. She had almost reached the point where she was wishing another storm would come along, if anything to give them all something different to do and to help cool them off. The sea water only helped so much, since it too was warmed by the sun.

Just as she thought she'd explode and tell them to stare at each other for a change, something did come along to give them something different to do. But it wasn't a storm.

XOXO

Before Masami had much more time to let her anxiousness build, it was time to move on. She was thankful, but sad to see her friends leave them. As the morning dawned, Masami awoke when there was a gasp from the person she laid beneath. Aang sat up panting, and he looked at her, she furrowed her brow,

"**What's wrong?"** She asked. He hung his head, pressing his eyes into her neck as he began to describe his nightmare to her,

"**I was in the Avatar state, but I was outside my body watching myself. It was scary. **_**I**_** was scary." **He breathed, obviously upset. She wrapped her arms around him, and she shushed him a tear hit her shoulder. She sometimes forgot he was just a kid, and he needed someone to listen, and he didn't have to deal with the thoughts of that right now. She kissed his head, and closed her eyes as his breathing began to relax.

The next morning, they were preparing to leave, Master Pakku presented Aang and herself with gifts of departure,

"**Masami, I want you to have this. This amulet contains water from the Spirit Oasis.**__**The water has unique properties. Don't lose it."** He said with a gentle expression. She bowed before him, and spoke,

"**Thank you for everything, I won't."** She stepped back, and he presented Aang with water scrolls, and then from there, they climbed onto Appa, and headed towards a fort in the Earth Kingdom run by a General Fong, then onto Bumi, who Aang was excited to go see, but Sokka seemed a little nerved, Bumi couldn't be that bad, a friend of Aang's was a friend of Masami's as far as she was concerned.

XOXO

The tiger shark struck their raft brutally and unexpectedly. They huddled against the mast together, horrified by the ferocious striped beast now stalking them. To make things worse, it appeared it wasn't the only one. Two more tiger sharks appeared, their striped fins skimming the surface as they approached from two different sides of the raft. In the back of her head, Kali wondered why three normally solitary predators would be joining forcing in such a situation. The front of her head was too busy picturing each of them being ripped apart by a separate tiger shark simultaneously to pay any mind to what the back was thinking. The tiger sharks each lunged at a different section of the tiny raft, ripping huge chunks from it with their sharp teeth and claws. One of them nearly took of Uncle's feet. Realizing they had little alternative, the three firebenders took the best fighting stances they could on what little standing space was left and watched as the fins circled back towards them. Zuko was the first to strike, whipping a fierce fiery streak at his tiger shark causing it to roar in pain and him to nearly lose his balance. Next, Uncle slammed a massive flame down over his tiger shark's head as it lunged out of the water towards him. The tiger shark snarled and dove back under. Kali's mind raced as hers advanced rapidly on her, as if to ram the raft. She remembered hearing something from an old merchant once about tiger sharks' snouts being especially sensitive. The tiger shark dove down a few yards away from her, then surfaced to fly directly in front of her. Face to face with a horrific mouth filled with gruesome teeth, Kali's hands flew on their own for her. With a fiery fist, she struck the tiger shark directly on its snout hard while the other hand let loose a stream of fire into its belly, forcing them apart. The badly injured tiger shark collapsed back into the sea and its former compatriots, sensing its greater weakness, turned on it. Kali and Zuko hastily jetted and paddled their way away from the feasting creatures while Uncle lamented not having been able to salvage any of the tiger shark's meat.

The next week passed by even more slowly than the others had, as they were forced at all times to either stand or sit back to back to the mast with their legs folded, none of them willing to risk putting their feet off the raft anymore. After they'd reached the point where Uncle had eaten his own shoes as well as Kali and Zuko's shoes (since they didn't want them), they saw a spec in the distance. As they got closer, their blood-shot eyes widened and they had to restrain themselves from jumping up and down with joy at the sight. Even Zuko perked up considerably and spoke cheerfully. Land. They had finally made it.

**A/N: **Wow! We actually have finished Book 1. This chapter, obviously is a filler, and now, onto Book 2. Obviously here we used a lot of quotes from the show, we do not sit down and watch it that much to know them all, we get most of them from Avatar Spirit, a website with transcripts. If you'd like to look at it, google it xD I found it that way! So, anyhow, thanks for reading!

Yip Yip. :]


	7. He made tea out of it!

This kingdom was starting to irk Masami and they hadn't been back into it for very long. They had flown, and flown and she was ready to be on solid ground. She leaned against Appa's head, sitting next to Aang, dozing, until Sokka startled the entire group of passengers by screaming,

"**THERE IT IS!"** Sokka pointed to a place in the midst of nothing. Masami furrowed her brow at it, and she rolled her eyes, closing them again as she felt like sleeping more then anything. She could feel them land a few minutes later, and they were greeted by a man in green, Masami slide off Appa slowly, Aang grabbing her hands and help her get her footing.

"**Welcome, Avatar Aang! I am General Fong. And welcome to all of you, great heroes! Appa, Momo, brave Sokka, the mighty Masami."** He threw flattery at them. Masami said nothing, she nodded. She didn't like something about him…perhaps it was his face; perhaps it was his fake tone of voice. Sokka, on the other hand seemed quite taken with him. Masami jumped nervously as fire works exploded behind them, and she looked at the sky. She hadn't seen anything of that type before, but she knew what they were, she heard tales of them. She finally smiled lightly, and she looked as Sokka spoke,

"**Not bad, not bad." **They then followed the man up to his office of sorts upstairs. He sat down, and they were offered food or drink. Masami, still unsure of anything of this place politely refused, and sat on the floor next to Aang, Momo hopping onto her head for a change of scenery from having sat on Aang for most of the trip.

"**Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at the stories of how you single-handedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole. I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility." **He needed to stop talking. Masami didn't like him, and he didn't know anything.

"**I try not to think about it too much."** Aang said, looking at his hands.

**"****Avatar, you're ready to face the Fire Lord now."** Fong said. Aang paniced,

**"**__**What?! No I'm not!"** Aang stammered. Masami looked up harshly,

**"Aang has yet to master all the elements, he is not ready for such a task, and it's not your place to imply that he is."** Sokka and Aang seemed a little shocked that she was so blunt. Her face never flinched.

**"****Why With the kind of power he possesses; power enough to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes, he could defeat the Fire Lord now!" **The General implied still, getting worked up. Masami's face didn't falter for a second. He wanted a fight? She'd give him one. Sokka came to his defense as well.

**"**** But, sir, the thing is Aang can only do those things when he's in the Avatar state."** Sokka explained, a lot more friendly then Masami would have.

**"See, it's this special state where…" **Aang started, but was cut off.

"**I'm well aware. Your eyes and tattoos glow and you're able to summon unbelievable power. Without you we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores. But with you leading the way as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation." **The general spoke, looking towards them down his nose. Masami chewed the insides of her mouth, this made an truly an idiot.

**"Right, but I'm don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar state, much less what to do once I'm there."** Aang reasoned. The man didn't care. So, Masami would make him care, but before another word could be spoken, the man shot back,  
**  
"So,**** it's decided then. I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar state, and then you'll face your destiny."**

XOXO

That massage would have felt great. Once they'd arrived on land, they'd found the nearest Fire Nation town and Uncle had found a nice place for them to stay. After all, he and Zuko were royalty. Uncle had offered to have them massage her as well as him but that would have meant having to wear hardly anything but a towel again and Kali wasn't comfortable with that. The scars on her arms made her very self conscious as it was, which was why she generally covered them with her gloves and shirt . She was glad that they'd been too tired on the raft to bother to ask her about them once she'd had to strip down due to the heat. Zuko still hadn't said anything about her firebending yet and she had yet to ask Uncle when he'd figured it out. While they'd been on the raft, she'd made an unexpected discovery in her pocket. There was a tiny carving, a stone that looked like a phoenix in her pocket. She'd recognized it instantly. It had been Obi's. He must have slipped it in her pocket when she'd been kneeling beside him at the North Pole. She figured it was probably for Garron. She wondered if she'd ever get to see him to deliver it.

Meanwhile, Uncle was getting a nice massage and Zuko was sitting in the doorway, looking even more unhappy than usual. He'd been that way all day. She thought that shade of pink he was wearing was a very unfitting color for him. It looked strange on Uncle too but somehow she could see it work for him a bit better. As for herself, she'd definitely have to get new clothes like the ones she'd had before. She still had her bandana and gloves in decent condition at least. She leaned against the side of the building, loving the comfortable warmth of the sun and chill of the breeze. Now that they were back on land, stable, well-fed, properly clothed, and not at the mercy of the elements, she felt like she could take pleasure in the sun and wind again. Uncle looked up and smiled, sighing pleasurably.

**"Aaaaaaaah! This is what I've been missing. Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks with barely any food or water and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver could make one so tense?"**

He looked at Zuko and his smile faded.

**"I see. It's the anniversary, isn't it?"**

Kali furrowed her brow. The anniversary of what? She looked over at where Zuko seemed to be intent on focusing on the ground and his shoes. His voice came out quietly from under his hat.

**"Three years ago today I was banished. I lost it all."**

He looked up, his usual firm look of determination fixed on his face.

**"I want it back. I want the Avatar, I want my honor, I want my throne."**

There was a pause, then he said, even more quietly.

**"I want my father...not to think I'm worthless."**

Kali's thoughts took a sympathetic tone. Even if he had purposely put her in danger, she couldn't help but sympathize with the idea of losing it all, being cast out by his own father. His feelings of worthlessness. Having finished his massage, Uncle got up and walked over to where Zuko sat. He spoke in what Kali thought was an overly optimistic voice.

**"I'm sure he doesn't! Why would he banish you if he didn't care?"**

Kali winced. That had come out terribly wrong. Zuko walked away sulkily. Uncle looked back at her, cringing.

**"That came out wrong, didn't it?"**

**"Yeah,"** she said, **"Definitely."**

She walked over to where Uncle had sat down.

**"I'm going down to the nearest Earth village to see if I can get a temporary job. I appreciate you having them let me stay here, but since I'm not an official Fire Nation citizen, I feel like it might be better if I try not to draw too much attention to myself in this town. Is there anything you need while I'm there? We'll be moving on soon, right? After the Avatar, I assume?"  
**  
He sighed.

**"Yes, I suppose so. We could use some supplies for our coming trip and perhaps another set of clothes. Do you have the money? I'm afraid I'm not exactly carrying a lot of money on me at the moment after that ride through the sea. If you go to my room though, I have a little bit you could use."**

**"Well, I have a little money left from the money Masami and I used to share. I'll see about some food for supplies, but the clothes can probably wait, right? After I get that job, hopefully, I'll have more money. Can't wait to get myself some new clothes."**

Uncle raised an eyebrow and grinned a bit at her.

**"Pink is not your color, I take it?"**

**"No, sir. Not by a long shot."  
**  
She smiled at him then walked down the path to where they were staying to get Uncle's money. She walked into the main room to find Zuko staring out on of the windows blankly. She quietly walked to Uncle's room and picked up his money pouch. He hadn't been kidding when he said there was only a little. She decided he might need it for later. She should have enough to buy them clothes on her own. She walked back to the main room where Zuko was still staring out the window. She couldn't help it. She was feeling sorry for him, despite how much she didn't want to. She walked over to him.

**"You know, I don't know your family or anything, but I'm sure your uncle's right. Your father made a mistake in banishing you, to be sure, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you at all. I mean, he is your father and fathers are supposed to care about their sons," she looked away from him, "Besides, if he didn't ever care about you, then why would you care about him? Surely, there was a reason from the beginning, something he did or has done over the years, that lead to you caring about what he thinks so much, right?"  
**  
Zuko remained silent for a moment and looked down. Then he replied.

**"We used to be a pretty happy family, back before he was the Fire Lord. When I was little, he used to tell me about how I was going to grow up to be a great prince and then a Fire Lord after him some day, how the Fire Nation would look up to me for leadership and strength. We used to go to the beach every summer, all of us, and have picnics and play in the sand and stuff. We were actually happy then..."**

He looked up.

**"Things are different now."**

His hands clenched.

**"I'm gonna fix them though. I have to. It's my destiny."**

Kali looked at him worriedly for a moment. She wasn't much for the idea of destiny really. She'd never given it much thought.

**"Well,"** she sighed and took a step back, **"While you're contemplating your destiny, I'm off to get a job. Someone's got to get us some money after all if we're going to be traveling across the Earth Kingdom, now that your ship and crew's gone."**

"That shouldn't be necessary. We should be able to hire a troop of soldiers to escort us and give us a ride. My uncle will just have to send a hawk to the Fire Nation requesting the proper payment for them."  
  
She shrugged.

**"If you say so, Prince. I'm still going to need money for myself at least, though."**

With that, she left for the Earth Kingdom town.

XOXO

Masami had heard enough of this bastard. She narrowed her eyes and she spoke angrier then she had before,

"**We have a plan, and it doesn't involve you, your naivety or destructive plans! We do not need you, or your help!"** Masami seethed. (Masami ANGRY! Masami SMASH!) Masami looked at the somewhat smug man behind his desk, he merely folded his hands and spoke,

**"Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on. May I show you something?"** Had the answer to that been up to Masami it would have been some choicely irate words, but Aang said yes, and followed him. Outside, they could see some men being lead out of a building, and they did look terrible, but Masami felt no sympathy.

"**That's the infirmary, and those soldiers are the lucky ones. They came back.**__**Every day the Fire Nation takes lives. People are **_**dying**_**, Aang! You could end it, now! Think about it."** The General argued, Masami rolled her eyes,

"**People have been dying at the hands of your nation just as at the hands of the Fire Nation! You seem to be implying that everyone from the Fire Nation is evil, what of those soldiers who get crushed, also at the same time crushing a wife and kids back home, leaving them never knowing where they're father went? Or their brothers? Uncles? Sisters killed back accident? What then you brutish bastard! WHAT THEN! War is pain, and I will not let you endanger Aang to win glory for yourself and your nation alone. He is there for everyone and he will stop this fight when he feels he is ready and when it is time. Do you hear me?"** She growled getting closer to the man with every step. She was seeing red, if she had known any better, she could have sworn she was breathing fire. She was famous for her bad temper, and this was a prime example of that. After this, she stormed from the room, leaving the others to discuss things at they would.

Later, she was approached by Aang and Sokka, as she lounged on her bed, facing the wall.

**"I told the general I'd help him by going into the Avatar state." **Aang said dejectedly. Masami never moved,

"**That's not the way to do this and you know it."** She said quietly, he didn't move, but Sokka interjected,

"**Why not? He took out the Fire Navy easily! He was incredible!"** this, however, did cause Masami to roll over.

"**Are you insane? He can't do this! You can't be with that general!"** She looked at Sokka, her hair falling out of its usual tight holds on the back of her head, and falling in her face, giving her an even put out look. Sokka was unyielding,

"**You know what? If you feel this is best, fine. Do not expect me to watch, or go. Enjoy throwing away your lives."** Masami snarled, leaving, hearing Aang pleading behind her, but she was so mad, she could hear nothing.

XOXO

Kali had gotten a job working as the temporary cleaner of a big ostrich-horse pen. It was a crappy job (literally) but the pay wasn't too bad relatively speaking. She'd started as soon as she'd applied and already she had enough money that she could buy them clothes. She decided to stick with just buying some food for now though. She doubted they'd be able to get the money for soldiers or anything like Zuko seemed to think they would be able to. She wondered how Uncle would break that news to him. When she returned, it was evening and she came up to the path to where they were staying just as Zuko and Uncle were returning.

"**Well, I got a job. It's not much but I think I've got enough money for some new clothes,"** she smiled at Uncle, **"And I bought some food for when we travel. Speaking of which, we traveling on foot or escort?"**

Zuko frowned. **"On foot, it is."**

Uncle smiled as they stepped inside as he spotted some seashells he'd collected earlier.

**"Look at these magnificent shells! I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come."**

Kali stiffened as she sensed someone else's presence in the room and spotted someone sitting in the darkness. Zuko, meanwhile, turned to Uncle.

**"We just established we're walking. We don't need anymore useless things to carry!"**

"Hello, brother. Uncle."

Zuko and Uncle whirled to see a young woman with sharp features dressed in a fine Fire Nation uniform sitting at the table near them, holding a seashell.

**"What are you doing here?"** asked Zuko, angrily, his fists clenched.

She narrowed her eyes at him and said haughtily,

**"In my country, we exchange a pleasant 'hello' before asking questions."**

She stood and Kali watched her anxiously as she walked over to glare at Zuko face to face.

**"Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?"**

**"Don't call me that,"** he growled, narrowing his eyes in return.

Uncle frowned uneasily then said calmly,

**"To what do we owe this honor?"**

The girl raised her eyebrows and shrugged slightly.

**"Hmmm. Must be a family trait. Both of you so quick to get to the point."**

She shattered the shell she was holding with her fingernails. Uncle's face darkened and Kali leaned down to put down the groceries, not taking her eyes off the girl. The girl turned to look her over for a moment and raised her eyebrows even higher.

**"This must be your little Earth Kingdom pet. I heard reports about you taking her in. I doesn't seem like you to be taking in strays, Zuzu, but, I suppose we all put up with inconveniences when necessary."**

Kali's blood went cold. She knew this to be Azula, Zuko's sister, daughter of the Fire Lord. The child who hadn't been banished. The one rumored to be perfect. And known to be ruthless. Kali held her tongue and met Azula's calculating stare calmly. Knowing it was necessary, she forced herself to give the princess a kurt bow, refusing not to meet her eyes even as she did so. Azula's eyes narrowed again and she turned her attention back to Zuko.

**"I've come with a message from home. Father's changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He's heard rumors of plans to overthrow him treacherous plots. Family are the only ones you can really trust."**

Her voice softened soothingly.

**"Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home."**

Zuko looked stunned and he turned towards the window.

**"Did you hear me?"** asked Azula, **"You should be happy. Excited. Grateful."**

She smiled.

**"I just gave you great news."**

Uncle started on Zuko's behalf.

**"I'm sure your brother just needs a moment to-"**

**"Don't interrupt, Uncle!"** Azula snapped, cutting him off.

Kali felt her chest tighten. She didn't trust a word of what Azula was saying. It was everything Zuko wanted and it was too good to be true. His sister was not to be trusted. Neither was his father. Despite what she'd said to him early, Kali felt that a father who could treat his child the way the Fire Lord had treated Zuko couldn't be a man who truly cared, at least not in the way a father should care.

**"I still haven't heard my thank you," said Azula, "I am not a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way."**

Zuko responded quietly, still staring out the window, looking shell-shocked.

**"Father...regrets? He...wants me back?"**

Azula sighed.

**"I can see you need time to take this in. I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening."**

She strolled out of the room, casting a fierce glance at Kali as she stepped aside to let the princess leave. Kali looked at Zuko then at Uncle. She worried Zuko was buying this, but Uncle, on the other hand, looked as suspicious as she felt. She found comfort in that.

XOXO

The next day, Masami sat with Sokka and Aang. The man wouldn't, couldn't understand that Aang didn't need this, didn't need this state. It wasn't a blessing when he was in the Avatar State, it was a curse, but men obsessed will stop at nothing to get what they wanted, so she sat idly by. Glancing boredly as Aang was given tea. The energy it induced brought a smile to her face regardless of the fact she was against the things they were trying to do. Aang had good habit of making her smile.

"**Is it working, is it working? I can't tell! Somebody tell me if I'm in the Avatar state, cause I don't have a good view of myself! Am I talking too loud?" ** He spoke rabidly as he twirled around the group on his air scooter. Sokka spoke boredly as Masami felt,

"**He could always talk the Fire Lord to death."** He said, looking back at the boy on the scooter. Masami winced visibly as Aang collided face first into a wall. She closed her eyes as he "Ooof!"ed and she cracked on as he crawled back to his feet slowly. The next attempt to induce the state was Sokka's idea.

"**Maybe I can shock you into the Avatar state."** Sokka declared. Masami rolled her eyes.

**"I love surprises."** Aang stated happily. Sokka told them to cover their eyes, and as they did, he screamed for them to open them, and he had Momo for a head.

"Raahh!" The Sokka lemur screamed. Aang yelped and rolled backwards a bit. He looked down at his hands, holding them towards Sokka.

"**Still not glowing." **Aang said matter-oh-factly. The next thing they tried had the group move back inside a temple like structure.

"**You are wearing a ceremonial piece of clothing from each of the bending nations. Now I will join the four elements into one! Water, earth, fire, air! Four elements together as one!"** A Priest informed him, throwing some of the mud in Aang's direction. Aang was covered in it, and he spat some of the mud towards the floor.

**"This is just mud!"** He argued, shaking more of it off his robes.

**"So, do you feel anything?"** The Priest said with a mildly hopeful Look. Aang shook his head, shaking more of the mud on the floor. Masami had seen enough of these antics, but she held her tongue today better then she had yesterday, she seemed to be giving most of the group the silent treatment. Her thoughts were broken when a sneeze echoed through the room, and she blinked, mud now covering her, Sokka and the cranky general. She wiped her face, and she rolled her eyes as the General still wouldn't give up.

**"We have to find a way."** He declared still.

XOXO

It had taken Zuko a long time to take it in, but now that he had, he was in the best mood she'd ever seen him in. She didn't like it. Not because she didn't like this change in attitude, but because she didn't trust its source in any way. It was the night after Azula had first told them the news and she'd come again today briefly to inform Uncle and Zuko that the ship would set sail the next morning, preferably with them on it. Zuko had eagerly agreed to board her ship at the appointed time while Uncle had complied more hesitantly. Kali had been working again when she'd come, so she'd missed having to put up with the princess's nasty arrogance again. She was thankful for this, but not thankful for Zuko having been taken in so easily.

She, Uncle, and Zuko strolled into the bath house they were staying in for the final night. Zuko spoke cheerfully.

**"We're going home. After three long years. It's unbelievable."**

**"Yes,"** said Uncle Iroh, skeptically, "**It is unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything."  
**  
Zuko turned, seemingly slightly taken aback by Uncle's tone.

"**Did you hear Azula? Father's realized how important family is to him,"** his tone became more forceful, **"He cares about me."**

**"I care about you," **Uncle replied, equally forcefully, **"And if Ozai wants you back...well, I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine."**

Zuko's face reverted back to his usual scowl.

**"You don't know how my father feels about me," he stiffened, facing the window, "You don't know anything."**

Kali looked at Uncle worriedly. Zuko had been mean and disrespectful towards him before but this felt different. This felt more personal.

Uncle sighed and walked up to Zuko, an expression of concern on his face.

**"Zuko, I only meant that in our family things are not always as they seem**."

Zuko whirled on him angrily and for a moment, Kali actually thought he might hit him.

**"I think you are exactly what you seem; a lazy, mistrustful old man who has always been jealous of his brother!"**

Zuko stormed away outside, as Kali and Uncle were both standing in the path he would have needed to take to get to his room, and Kali stared after him, stunned and angry. How could he treat his uncle like that?! How dare he, after all the times Uncle had been there for him? Uncle looked down sadly then drifted towards his room, turning briefly to wish Kali a good night. Kali stood alone in the room, feeling like she wanted to punch Zuko in the face. She had half a mind to, but, instead, elected to wait for her anger to simmer down a bit. She found that she often was able to express her anger more effectively and with more control if she had a cooler head. Control was important to her, since she didn't want to go literally exploding (with flames and everything). She sat in the room and waited for Zuko to come back. He wasn't too long. As he started to ignore her and head for his room, she stood.

**"You know. That was completely uncalled for. And it was a VERY low blow. How dare you treat your uncle that way?"**

He turned on her.

**"What do you know?! You're not even part of our family! And how dare you treat me like that?! I'm the son of the Fire Lord. You have no place questioning me! It's like Azula said, you're just a stray from the Earth Kingdom who we picked up along the way. And so far, all you've done is get in my way."  
**  
She bristled.

**"Is that so? I guess I just imagined those times I saved your life. Like that time I purposely jumped overboard into a storm-tossed sea to fish you out when your armor was drowning you. Or the time I insisted we carry you out of the blizzard while you were unconscious so you wouldn't freeze to death. Oh and let's not forget when I pushed you out of the way of that ocean monster's grip at the Water Tribe city. I even followed you on your trip of insanity under the ice! And do you know why? Because your uncle asked me to promise to make sure you stayed safe while we were at the North Pole. He was really worried about you. He's the reason I found you and Zhao when I did, too. He didn't doubt your fighting abilities but he didn't trust Zhao to fight fairly, so he basically asked me to play referee. My promise to him is the only reason I went along with your crazy death wish journey into the city. And then you almost got me killed by waterbenders! Your uncle has been here for you the whole time, when no other member of your family has even wanted to be associated with you. Where has Azula been these past three years? Where's your father been? They sure as hell haven't been there for you. Your uncle has. And now, just because your arrogant, untrustworthy bitch of a sister has shown up and told you everything you wanted to hear, you'd turn your back on him!?" **

She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists while Zuko seemed at a temporary loss for words.

**"If there's anything you should be ashamed of, 'Prince' Zuko, it's of how you just treated your uncle."**

She glared at him for a moment but he merely gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow.  
**  
"Good night!"  
**  
Without another word, she turned her back to the stunned prince and slammed the door to her room.

XOXO

Masami and the group slept in their room, and she slept beneath Aang, they weren't in the same bed at this place, the beds weren't nearly big enough and they felt it was best not to arise questions. Though Masami felt herself not sleeping as well due to the change, but that was alright, she would be back with Aang soon enough, unless he was taken to the Fire Nation…to face the Fire Lord. She opened her eyes as she heard whispering.

"**Sokka. Sokka, wake up." ******

**"Wha...?" ******

**"I don't think we should be trying to bring on the Avatar state". ******

**"You sure?"******

**"Yes." ****  
**

"**Okay." ******

**"Do you think the general will be mad?"******

**"What can he say? You're the Avatar. Who knows better than you?" **And there it was, Sokka had made the most valid point of anyone this entire mini adventure. No one could force Aang into that state if he didn't want to go, and no one had the right to try. Though, the following morning, nothing went as planned.

"**The thing is, I don't think we'll ever be able to trigger it on purpose. So, I guess that's it."** Aang said to the General,

**"Sure I can't change your mind?"** He asked, Aang looked down, and he shook his head.

**"I'm sure. I can only reach the Avatar state when I'm in genuine danger." **He tried to explain.

**"I see. I was afraid you'd say that."** Fong said, making everyone look up as Fong's desk flying towards him. It connected with Aang who flew back with a startled "Ugh!"

**"Aang!"** Sokka screamed as Aang crashed through a wall and went plummeting towards the ground. Masami screamed, and she covered her eyes as they were held back by guards, Masami was able to break free, and she ran towards the stairs, she had seen enough. She had to do something!

"**Men! Attack the Avatar!"** Echoed in her ears as she ran. She panicked and ran faster,

"**No!" **She breathed.

XOXO

Kali woke early the next morning and silently got dressed, then walked out into the main room. The sun was just beginning to come up. She would soon leave for her job and soon say good-bye to the two men she'd spent the last couple of months traveling with. She was still angry with Zuko, but as she stared out the window, she couldn't help but feel worry surpass her anger. Worry for both of them. She was sure the princess had lied and that Uncle had been right. Whatever Fire Lord Ozai wanted them for, it couldn't be as good as Zuko hoped. She heard a door open and turned. Zuko walked past her silently, carrying his pack. She watched him, her anger rekindled but her worry still stronger. He said nothing to her and she looked back at Uncle's room as he left the room. She wanted to stop him, convince him he was making the wrong decision, but she knew he'd never listen to her. As he'd so kindly pointed out earlier, in his eyes she was nothing but a "stray from the Earth Kingdom." Someone who got in his way.

She turned to watch him head down the path towards where the ship was moored, waiting. She heard another door open and turned to see Uncle hastily finishing pushing his things into his pack. He looked up at her and smiled sadly.

**"I suppose this is good-bye."**

He paused to look down after Zuko.

**"He didn't say good-bye, did he?"**

"No. But that's fine."

He frowned and she walked over to him.

**"General Iroh...it's been a pleasure serving you these past couple of months. I'm...glad to have had the chance to meet you. Thank you for your wisdom and good humor...and for your sharing of your Pai Sho skills with me."**

She bowed solemnly and was surprised as he gently hugged her.  
**  
"It has been a pleasure to have you with us, Kali. I hope that you find your sister very soon and that she is well. I wish you good luck on your journey."**

"I wish you good luck on yours as well, sir. I...hope that things are as good as your nephew seems to believe they are. I hope that, in this case, you...and I...are wrong in our thoughts."

He frowned, a concerned look coming over his face.

**"I hope so too."  
**  
As he began to leave, she thought for a moment then added,

**"Sir."**

He turned.

**"If things don't go as well as hoped, I will be camped just south of the local Earth Kingdom town. If you or your nephew need any help...for any reason...I'll be there or working in the town at a small ostrich-horse merchant's place. It's in the center of town. I should be here for a couple of days, until I have a bit more money."**

He nodded and gave her a slight bow.

**"Thank you. I truly appreciate it."**

Then he walked down the path.

XOXO

As Masami reached the bottom of the tower, she was horrified to see the General and his men tossing rock rings at Aang. She screamed and made towards them, only to be stopped by some soldiers grabbing her arms. They hauled her towards the center of the fort, and behind Aang, out of his sight, but to a place where she could see all. She didn't like this at all. She thrashed around, and she was held tighter. She looked up to see Aang being chased by a vicious looking bird, and she couldn't look anymore. She could hear the guards moving her, and as soon as her eyes were open, she was surrounded by the rings. Panic begin to set in when she heard the next thing the General said.

"**Maybe you can avoid me, but she can't." **Sometimes she wondered how she'd made it this far, and this man seemed to want to end her life now. She tossed a water whip at him, and he simply knocked it away, making a puddle on the ground. He made that puddle into a sink hole, and she began to fall into it. She thrashed around,

"**Aang!"** She cried, her voice cracking from panic.

"**Don't hurt her!"** He cried, throwing air at Fong, who dodged it, and looked at her as she began to sink faster the more she panicked. Masami looked as Sokka tried to help, but fell off the bird he was riding and was out of it. She looked back towards Aang, and she began to cry.

"**Stop this! You have to let her go." **Aang cried, shaking the man's arm.

"**You could save her if you were in the Avatar State."** He said indignantly. Aang's eyes welled with tears,

"**I'm trying! I'm trying!"** He cried, sinking to the ground. Masami needed to be there for him, to make this stop! She needed to tell him it was okay. She thrashed faster and faster, and her sinking became more and more rapid.

"**I can't take much more of this."** She sniveled. Aang looked at the man,

"**You don't need to do this!"** Aang cried,

"**Apparently I do."** He said, forcing Masami's head beneath the surface. She could see no more, hear no more, she didn't know where she was, or if she would survive this. Above her, the Fort was in ruins, which she saw as she was pulled up like a weed. She gagged on sand, and she cried sharp tears and she looked up as Aang dropped from the sky, and she got up and ran towards him, holding his shoulders,

"**I'm sorry. I couldn't get to you before that happened, then you had to see that."** He said, very down on himself. She kissed his head, cradling his smaller frame to hers.

"**No Aang, its alright. I'm fine."** She said, she looked up as the General mentioned the Fire Nation.

"**You're insane!"** She growled, pulling Aang closer to her chest. He grabbed her kimono, and he buried his face. Before the man could speak again, Sokka hit him with his boomerang, knocking further thought from the man, and they left without much of another thought, wanting to be rid of this fort as fast as possible, and no one stopped them.

XOXO

Kali had found a good spot to camp ahead of time. She'd cleared it out and set up a good little pile of firewood for the night before she'd left for her job. She'd spent the morning cleaning out the ostrich-horse pen and grooming the ostrich-horses. There were enough of them that, even in the short amount of time that had passed since the day before, they'd managed to make a horrible mess and the merchant wanted them to look very good for when he was trying to make his sales. She had a brief lunch break before she had to return to help showcase and sell the ostrich-horses. She got some decent clothes for herself to wear that looked just like her previous clothes. Black shirt, black pants, black belt, black boots. It felt good to be back in black. No more pink nonsense for her. She'd spent the entire morning worrying about Uncle and Zuko and how things had turned out for them. She thought of them some more as she returned to work.

A few hours, the merchant dismissed her, saying he figured he wouldn't be making too many more sales that evening. It was late in the day but the sun was still shining. She strolled back to her campsite, figuring she'd finish setting things up and then make dinner. To her surprise, it was already occupied when she got there. She stared at Uncle and Zuko, who looked up at her uneasily as she approached. Both had cut their hair and both looked lost. Zuko's ponytail was gone. She dropped her stuff in the campsite and frowned down at them.

**"I take it...things didn't go as planned."**

**"No,"** said Uncle, "**They most certainly did not."**

She made a quick guess about the general nature of things.

**"I'll...go buy you guys some new clothes. Just keep out of sight while I'm gone."**

As she started to walk away, she turned to take another look at Zuko, who's mostly shaved head looked even worse then it had before now that he had only a loose diamond of hair of varying lengths in the middle.

**"We definitely need to get you a hat until your hair grows in properly."**

XOXO

The place the group chose to land was absolutely gorgeous! There was enough water to not freak out Masami, and for Sokka to float around on, and Appa to relax, and Aang and Masami could work on Aang's water bending skills. As Sokka floated around lazily, Masami emerged from the brush, her hair down around her shoulders, and she held some of it in her fists. She had cut it, the crazy man had ruined it for the most part. Her hair used to be around her waist, though it was always back so you couldn't tell. She sighed, and she tossed her dead curls to the side, she pulled the rest back into its usual pigtails, and she had discarded her kimono for a two piece bathing suit of sorts, it was black and covered enough. She took her stances across from Aang, and they began by passing a whip back and forth, until they decided to practice a move Masami had learned from a scroll.

"**You guys are gonna be done soon, right?"** Sokka questioned. Masami rolled her eyes.

**"We've got a lot of ground to cover if we wanna make it to Omashu today."** He added.  
**"You look really ready to move on Sokka."** Masami teased, she stance slipping a bit as Aang sent the whip back, it splattered in her face, and he rushed his speech,

"**Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that!"** He said, Masami looked back towards him, shaking her head,

"**It's alright Aang. No harm done."** She spoke with a smile, looking back at Sokka as he spoke,

**"****I can be ready in two minutes. Seriously. Whenever."** Sokka lifted up for a second, and fell back into the water. She rolled her eyes again, and looked back to Aang as he spoke eagerly,

**"****So, you were showing me the octopus form." **She smiled, nodding. She had said that, so she would show him.

**"****I did. Now…lemme see how you stand."** As he struck his stance, he had a basic grasp on it, but he hadn't gotten it quiet yet. She moved behind him, and she ran her hands over his shoulders, and down his arms. She grasped his thin wrists, and she pulled them towards his body, and she set them in the right place, letting go slightly, though still standing close.

"**Your center has to be protected or the move is for not, kay? Yeah, that's much better!"** She said with a smile as he got his stance adjusted to feel more natural for him, and still be correct. She stepped back, and she could see the blush across his cheeks, and she smiled,

"**You okay Aang?"** She teased, he looked down, and he didn't let his stance fall,

"**Yep! I'm great!"** He said, his voice cracking a bit. She smiled wider, and she took her place a few feet away, and nodded for him to try it. He waved his arms over his head, and a blob that soon sprouted tentacles covered him. She smiled, and she brought water to her sides, and she blew across the water, freezing it and she broke it apart and sent it flying towards the wiggling bubble. All the ice was dodged and she clapped. He was a very faster learner. He let the water down, and they turned as they heard singing. Masami looked at the others, and soon a group of rather unique individuals came into view,

"**Don't fall in love with a traveling girl. She'll leave you broke and broken hearted." **One of them sang. Masami raised her brows, but when the others started to get closer, what choice did she have other then to talk to them? What was the worst it could do? They seemed friendly enough.

XOXO

Kali returned hastily with the clothes, wondering exactly what had happened to them that they had cut their hair. The only reason for that, it seemed to her, would be because they were in hiding and now wanted by the Fire Nation. What exactly had Azula's intentions been for them? She would have to ask them for the story some time more convenient. She arrived at the campsite and was stunned to see how downhill things had gone during the brief period of time she'd been gone.

Zuko was holding a long, sharp stick with a tiny, useless fish on the end of it. Obviously, he was no fisherman. He was staring at his uncle with a horrified look on his face. Uncle appeared to be sitting in front of a plant that she was pretty sure had been a white jade plant, known for its deadly poison. The plant was missing its blossom.

She rushed over to stand next to Zuko and cringed at the sight of Uncle's face and body, covered in red blotches.

**"Aah. What'd you do with the plant?"**

Zuko looked over at her.

**"He made tea out of it!"**

**"Oh nooo..."**

Uncle smiled feebly and lifted up some berries.  
**  
"On the bright side, I found these berries which could be bacui berries, known to cure the white jade's poison!"**

Kali hastily snatched them away.

**"No!, er, sir, those are macahoni berries! They'll make you blind!"**

**"We need to get help,"** said Zuko uneasily.

**"If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed though."**

Uncle frowned.

**"But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula."**

Kali looked at them uneasily.

**"Look, I don't know what happened with you guys exactly so you'll have to explain it later. For now, though, we should head to the town I've been working in. There's an herbalist's hut that should be able to help you, Unc-sir."**

The two of them looked at each other and nodded.

**"Earth Kingdom it is. Better than Azula."**

Kali had them change clothes then they hastily made their way into town.

XOXO

Masami got a better look at the group…and she blinked. Hippies. Tree Huggers. Morons, were the only words that came through her head. She may have been being judgmental, but she had been raised to be critical of most vagabonds. They didn't really do much, but they made their own way, so at least they were out of civilizations way. And…the way they were singing made it worse. She cringed, and she tried to just hope they'd go away.

"**Heh-hey! River people!"** The lead Moron said, pointing at them rudely. Masami gritted her teeth,

"**We're not river people."** She said bluntly, whipping her hair behind her ears as it fell from its holding behind her head. She chewed her teeth at they spoke again.

**"You're not! Well then what kind of people are ya?"** the leader asked stupidily.

"Just… people." Aang answered, sensing Masami's temper getting short. She had been on a short fuse since the crazy Earth General tried to kill her.

**"Aren't we all, brother! Whoo."** The nomad called. Sokka joined the group, only wearing his underpants.

"**Who're you?"** He asked flatly.

**"I'm Chong, and this is my wife Lily. We're nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us!"** He said, swaying lightly, like he was on something, which he probably was, and Masami took a guess to say it wasn't wind. As he spoke, he strummed his guitar, at least he could play, Masami gave him that.

**"You guys are nomads That's great! I'm a nomad."** Aang cried excitedly, moving more towards them.

"**Hey, me too!"** Chong spoke slowly. Aang looked at him flatly,

"**I know… you just said that."**

"**Oh."** Chong said as his attention drifted to Sokka.

"_**Nice**_** underwear."**

XOXO

Zuko and Kali leaned against the wall of the herbalist's hut, watching as a young woman who'd introduced herself as Song tended to Uncle.

**" You all must not be from around here. We know better than to touch the white jade, much less make it into tea and drink it."**

Uncle laughed sheepishly.

**"Whoops!"**

"So where are you traveling from?"  
  
Zuko stiffened.

**"Yes, we're travelers."**

Kali refrained from smacking her forehead. Could he be any more obvious? She could see she'd have to help out with this story.

**"But where are you traveling from exactly?"**

"We're on our way to Ba Sing Se," Kali lied, **"We're originally from Rabbaroo Island."**

**"Rabbaroo Island? Wow, that is a good ways from here."  
**  
Song turned and smiled at Zuko shyly.

**"So, do you have names?"**

**"Names?"** said Zuko hesitantly, **"Of course we have names. I'm, uh, Lee and this is my uncle, umm, Mushi."  
**  
Uncle shot him a nasty look behind Song's back then smiled up at her.

**"Yes, my nephew was named after his father, so we just call him Junior."**

He gave Zuko a huge smug smile while Zuko furiously balled his fists. Kali snickered under her breath.

**"And this is my niece, Junior's sister."  
**  
**"I'm Sofi,"** Kali said matter-of-factly, **"Thank you for helping our uncle. We were pretty worried about him."  
**  
Zuko looked at her somewhat uncomfortably, the news of his new-found sister a bit of a surprise to him.

**"I was glad to help,"** Song smiled at them, **"You three look like you could use a nice meal. Why don't you stay for dinner?"  
**  
Zuko looked down, his face hidden under his new hat.

**"Sorry, but we need to be moving on."**

For once, Kali agreed with him.

**"That's too bad,"** said Song, **"My mother always makes too much roast duck."**

That settled it though. Uncle leaned closer to her quickly, smiling.  
**  
"Where do you live exactly?"**

XOXO

The day for Masami was slowly getting worse, the hippies wouldn't leave, and Aang didn't seem keen on making them leave. They needed to move on, but at the moment, the Chong man was singing, and Appa's hair was getting braided. Masami sat with Aang, who happily listened to anything and everything that was said, and she listened, but not as intently as he.

**"Hey, Sokka, you should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere."** Aang chirped cutely as Sokka approached them. Masami said nothing, but looked up at Lily as a wreath of flowers was placed on her head. She smiled lightly. As long as they weren't singing, she had to admit they were alright...she guessed.

**"Thank you."** She said with a smile. Lily nodded, and began to then braid her hair. It had been a long time since anyone had played with Masami and it made her miss the times she had with Kali more, but she didn't let it show. As Sokka stopped, Chong piped up again,

**"Well, not everywhere, Little Arrowhead. But where we haven't been we've heard about through stories and songs."** He reiterated. Sokka didn't seem impressed.

**"They said they'll take us to see a giant night crawler."** Aang added excitedly. Masami shuddered.

**"On the way there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow." **Muku, the other hippie added.

**"Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here but since Masami is busy I guess it's up to me. We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows."** Sokka said firmly.

**"Whoa… sounds like someone's got a case of "destination fever," heh. You're worried too much about where you're going."** Chong said, bringing another smile to Masami's face.

**"You've gotta focus less on the "where" and more on the "going.""** Lily added.

**"O. Ma. Shu."** Sokka said firmly. Masami rolled here eyes,

**"For once Sokka is correct, we have to go to Omashu to find something named Bumi so Aang can learn Earth Bending."** She added.

**"Well, sounds like you're headed to Omashu. There's an old story about a secret pass…right through the mountains."** Chong added ominously as Sokka slapped his forehead in frustration.

**"Is it real?"** Masami asked.

**"Oh, it's a real legend. And it's as old as earth bending itself."** Chong said, strumming his guitar as he began to sing,

"Two lovers, forbidden from one another… a war divides their people, and a mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together."

**"Yeah, and I forget the next couple of lines, but then it goes…"** He said with a normal voice then resumed singing, with more vigor this time,

**"Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountain! Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!"** The song ended, and the boys insisted that Appa hated going underground, so they were to fly. They bayed their new friends goodbye and flew off...only to be attacked by some Fire Nation goons, and returned to find the hippies to go under ground.

"**Secret love cave. Let's go"** Sokka stated flatly.

XOXO

After Song finished curing Uncle of his poison, he washed up quickly and, despite Zuko's protests and Kali's urgings, they were soon seated at the dining table in the small house Song and her mother inhabited. Kali offered to help Song and her mother serving but they insisted that as a guest she should be the one who was served. Thus, they were soon all dining on what turned out to be some of the best roast duck Kali had ever tasted. She wasn't all that fond of duck herself but this was truly delicious. Uncle was certainly enjoying it. He was on his third helping before Kali had even finished her first and only helping. Zuko nibbled slowly at his, apparently not particularly hungry.

**"My daughter tells me you're refugees,"** said Song's mother, Naina, "**We were once refugees ourselves."  
**  
Song turned to them, her face taking on a sad expression.  
**  
"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away,"** she looked down, **"That was the last time I saw my father."**

Zuko stopped nibbling.

**"I haven't seen my father in many years,"** he said quietly.

**"Oh,"** said Song sympathetically, "**Is he fighting in the war?"**

Kali and Uncle both looked at Zuko uneasily.

After a pause, he spoke even more quietly.

**"Yeah."**

Song turned to Kali.

**"Do you know where he's stationed or when he'll be back?"**

Kali frowned, remembering she was now Zuko's sister, and shook her head.

**"No,"** she glanced at Zuko**, "Neither of us has heard from him in a long time."**

She felt really badly for lying to them. They seemed like generous, good people and deceiving them felt even more wrong than it normally did. Kali had experienced rough times in her life, times when she'd been desperate and felt that she had no choice but to deceive or even to steal. That had been after her mother had died and before her grandfather had taken Masami and herself in. She'd been too little to work, unless people were kind enough to just give her minor odd jobs for a few coins, and, with little to no money, hadn't been able to afford to properly buy or earn food and rides. With those times over though, she'd hoped to never have to lie like this again. And yet, here she was. As she resumed sipping her tea, Zuko finally finished his food and asked to be excused. He silently walked out the door while Uncle asked if it would be alright for him to have another helping.

XOXO

Wandering seemed to take forever. Sokka seemed to be losing patience,

**"How far are we from the tunnel?"** He asked.

**"Actually, it's not just one tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth."** Chong elaborated.

**"Labyrinth!?"** He cried. Chong brushed it off,

**"I'm sure we'll figure it out."** Chong spoke nonchalantly. Sokka sighed, and he moved off after the group again.

**"All you need to do is trust in love. According to the curse."** Masami raised an eyebrow, and smiled lightly. If only all curses were that simple! But, Sokka didn't like this idea either, he was being more negative them usual today, Masami observed.

**"Curse!"** He howled. Then, they got into a small canyon looking thin, the cave entrance made Masami a bit nervous. She guessed Aang caught onto it, and he intertwined their fingers, squeezing her hand lightly.

**"Hey-hey, we're here!"** Chong announced, like no one could have guessed that, but it didn't matter. Sokka spoke again, looking up and over the entrance of the cave.

**"What exactly is this curse?"** He asked cautiously. He didn't know what to expect really.

**"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise you'll be trapped in them forever."** Chong said casually. Then Lily added happily,

**"And die."** This comment made Masami cringe a bit. Aang squeezed her hand again, and and stepped closer to her, protectively.

**"Oh, yeah, and die. Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song."** Chong said happily, strumming his guitar.

**"And die!"** He flourished, making Masami smiled despite her nerves.

**"That's it! There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!**" Sokka growled, crossing his arms. But, behind them, there was a large curl of smoke and they then knew they had no choice.

**"Hey, someone's making a big campfire!"** cried one of the groupies. Masami's brow furrowed, and she felt herself step closer to Aang still,

**"That's not a campfire."** She said solemnly.

**"That's Fire Nation. They're tracking us."** Sokka added gravely. Aang looked over the group, standing close to Masami,

**"So all you need is to trust in love to get through these caves?" **Aang asked, looked at everyone.

**"That is correct, Master Arrowhead."** Chong said. Aang nodded, smiling and he looked at Masami as she looked back at him, blushing, and she dropped her eyes to the ground. His eyes shown with joy, and he looked back towards the group as a whole.

**"We can make it."** Aang said strongly.

**"Everyone into the hole."** Sokka finished.

XOXO

Zuko stared out at the darkness from the brightly lit porch. His father and Azula's treachery filled his thoughts. His father had wanted him home...so he could be imprisoned. His father was even more ashamed of him than he had been before. Zuko's chest tightened and he clenched his knees with his hands. And Azula had nearly succeeded in capturing him. She'd lied...she always lied. He should have known. He'd fallen for it...because he'd wanted to. His uncle had been right. And so had Kali. Zuko squinted at the darkness. She didn't even really know Azula and she'd known. Azula was a practiced liar. She was good at it. He'd known she was and he'd still fallen for it. Kali hadn't. How? How had she seen through his sister when he hadn't? His uncle had also apparently entrusted her with his safety too, if what she'd said in the bathhouse had been true. Why? Why would his uncle trust her that much? Azula had been right, after all. Fire-bender or not, she was just some girl from the Earth Kingdom they'd picked up during their travels. The door behind him opened.

**"May I join you?"** asked Song, kindly. He made no effort to reply, which as far as he was concerned, just meant he couldn't care less. She sat beside him.  
**  
"I know what you've been through"**

No you don't, he thought, You have no idea.

**"We've all been through it. The Fire Nation has hurt you."**

Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko saw her hand moving slowly towards his face. Without looking at her, he hastily stopped her. He didn't want to be touched. Sometimes he felt he didn't even want to be touchable. He kept his eyes fixed on the darkness in the yard in front of him. Right now...he felt like he just wanted to melt into that darkness. Then he wouldn't have to think about his father or his sister or that girl or anyone.

**"It's okay. They've hurt me too."**

He looked at her in surprise as she lifted part of her dress to reveal a thin fire-bending scar which started at her ankle and twisted up around her left to just beneath her knee. For a moment, he felt pity for her, a brief connection for the shared sense of scorching pain. The lights of the porch shown on the scar. The connection ended and all he could picture was his own scar. His father. He looked back at the darkness.

Kali helped Naina clear the table. Naina insisted she didn't need to but Kali was equally insistent on helping. After all, Naina and Song had both been very kind to them and she felt this was the least she could do. She wondered what Zuko and Song were chatting about outside. Seeing as how Zuko could hardly be considered the chatting type, she had a feeling it wasn't a very lively conversation. She hoped he was at least not being too unpleasant. Song was a sweet girl and Kali had a feeling she was a bit taken with Zuko. Or maybe she felt sorry for him. After all, he was missing half his face and his hair looked like the last barber he'd seen had escaped from an asylum. Kali chastised herself inwardly for the thought about his face. The scar, she knew, must be a constant reminder to him of what he probably considered his greatest failure. If anything, she thought, it should be seen as a mark of his father's greatest failure...as a parent and a person. But he'd probably never see it that way, would he?

XOXO

Inside the cave, Appa was extremely nervous. She, as well as the rest of the group, knew Appa hated being underground. She couldn't say she blamed him.

**"It's okay Appa, everything will be okay."** She said, stroking his head. She hoped anyhow...It was dark, and there were probably mass amounts of bugs...and bugs..and water..and bugs. She looked left and right and could have sworn she saw movement next to her foot and pressed herself into Aang, who looked back at her with a confused glance.

**"What?"**

**"Bugs!"** She cried looking around again. He smiled at her, and he took her hand once again. She looked back at Chong, who was behind them with a torch of some sort.

**"We will be fine. All we need is a plan. Chong, how long do those torches last?"** He asked, pushing the thoughts of creepy crawlers out of his, and hopefully everyone else's mind.

**"Eh, about two hours each."** Chong spoke.

**"And we have five torches so that's.... ten hours." **Lily said, lighting them all.

**"It doesn't work like that if they're all lit at the same time!" **Sokka growled, taking them from her. Masami giggled lightly, looking away as he looked at her.

**"Ohh, right."** Lily nodded.

**"I'm gonna make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been. Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through."** Sokka admonished and he set to work on the map. Sadly, the map didn't work. Dead ends were reached far too many times for most's liking, and Sokka was gradually getting more frustrated.

**"This doesn't make any sense; we already came through this way."** He scoffed.

**"We don't need a map. We just need love. The little guy knows it."** Chong said, pointing to Aang, who blushed.

**"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map, also."** He admitted.

**"There's something strange here. There's only one explanation. The tunnels are changing."** Sokka declared, making Masami drop her face and shake her head, he was brilliant at times...and then there was a rumbling, and it made them all look around nervously.

**"The tunnels… they're a-changin'. Ah, it must be the curse. I knew we shouldn't have come down here."** Chong cried, actually sounding worried.

**"Right. If only we listened to you."** Sokka groaned. Masami looked around nervously, speaking in a shaking voice,

**"Does anyone hear that?"** She then watched Momo fly off, and someone screamed as a wolf bat flew at them, knocking Sokka over, and scattering everyone else.

**"It's a giant flying thing with teeth!"** Chong screamed, and was corrected by Moku,

**"No! It's a wolf-bat!"** A massive scuffle ensued. The bat startled Appa, and caused Sokka to loose hold on the torch after he tried to chase it off. As Appa began to run after seemingly being injured, there was more rumbling, and next thing Masami knew, Aang was sending the others sailing forward, and she could see her life flash before her eyes, but before there was panic time, she was on the ground, rolling out of the way. She opened her eyes, and she came face to face with Aang, but realized everyone else was gone. She blinked, her breath ragged, and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer,

**"That was scary."** She breathed into his neck, he pulled her up and held her close, as they climbed to their feet, trying to see if they could get back to the others.

XOXO

Naina wrapped up what was left of the roast duck (which was very little thanks to Uncle). She handed it to Kali as they walked out the front door and Song joined them to bid Kali, Zuko, and Uncle farewell. Uncle smiled at them thankfully.

**"Thank you for the duck. It was excellent."**

**"It was some of the best roast duck I've ever had,"** Kali added, smiling also.

**"You're welcome,"** Naina smiled back at them, then looked at Uncle, **"It brings me joy to see someone eat my cooking with such...gusto."  
**  
"**Much practice**," said Uncle, patting his belly.

Zuko turned as if to go and Uncle looked back at him and spoke hastily.

**"Junior, where are your manners? You need to thank these nice people."**

Zuko stopped and turned, gave them a short bow.

**"Thank you."**

As Zuko began to leave again, Kali and Uncle turned to follow him. Song called after him.

**"Junior! I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope. The Avatar has returned!"**

Kali tensed up a bit. Uncle winced slightly. Zuko paused, his back turned to them all and lifted his head slightly.

**"I know,"** he said in a quiet, intense voice.

To break up the slight awkward tenseness of the moment, Kali turned and gave them a short bow.

**"Thank you for your hospitality. We all really appreciate it."**

Song and her mother closed the door as the three of them left the yard. As Uncle and Kali passed through the gate and caught up with Zuko, Zuko stopped for a moment. Kali stopped as well, then looked back to see what was keeping him.

XOXO

The darkness was thick. Masami didn't know what to make of it, but she had Aang, so she was calm enough, or as calm as she could be in the darkness of a cave with bugs and wolfbats. Ahead of them, she could see something..but she didn't know what it is.

**"Do you see that?"** She asked, motioning with the torch towards some door looking stones.

**"We found the exit!"** Aang declared happily. She smiled warily, and looked back as Appa began to make noises. They jumped apart as he rammed the door, and looked not outside, but into another chamber.

**"I wish this were an exit, but I don't think it is..."** She breathed, looking around slowly,

**"No… it's a tomb."** Aang said gravely.

**"It must be the two lovers from the legend. That's who's buried here."** He declared, tracing over some stuff with his hands. She agreed, nodding her head, and she looked at the paintings, and began to read some writing along the walls.

**"These pictures tell their story. They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages. The villages were enemies so they could not be together. But their love was strong and they found a way. The two lovers learned earthbending from the badger moles. They became the first earthbenders. They built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth. But one day the man didn't come. He died in the war between their two villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earthbending power. She could have destroyed them all. But instead she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city where they would live together in peace. The woman's name was Oma and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love. Love is brightest in the dark."** She finished, her eyes still dancing over the pictures. She felt her eyes well with tears, she felt sorry for the tragic lovers, and she looked to Aang, hoping something so tragic would never befall them, with wars and all else dividing the dangerous world they lived in. She turned as she felt a hand on her back. He looked at the ground and started to step away before he spoke, though he looked like he wanted to,

**"What is it, Aang?"** She asked, reaching for him.

**"Nothing, it was just an idea."** He mumbled, looking at the ground. She furrowed her brow,

**"What?"** She pressed, taking a step closer to him. He blushed deeper,

**"I was just thinking we could kiss, I know we have before, but I dunno, I didn't know if you wanted me to or not..If you don't I get it, it's okay."** She cocked her head to the side. She hadn't thought of that. Love was the brightest in the dark.

**"You can, I don't mind."** She said with a small voice. They had done this times before, but neither seemed to have the guts to do it again; which was silly considering they would hug, hold hands, and other such things couples did...couple, that was a new word she hadn't thought of before. She blushed deeper and he stepped closer to her, his eyes darting everywhere at once. Before he could make himself do it, he moved away and he babbled a bit,

**"Sometimes I want to..but I just don't like now. I don't know why I get so nervous! I know how I feel, and how you feel, and I just can't! I dunno maybe I'm just afraid something will happen to you if we get close, or I'll mess up and we won't be friends anymore..." **He said, scratching his head. She smiled lightly,

**"I'll always be here Aang, I promise."** She meant it too. He looked up at her, and before she knew what was going on, he had his arms around her thin waist, and he had connected their mouths.

XOXO

Kali stared in disbelief at what Zuko was doing for a second. She didn't want to believe that he would stoop this low. She knew he would stoop low but somehow this just seemed worse than usual. Betraying some kind people who'd just offered completely unsolicited assistance in a time of need. Anger gripped her and she stalked over to where the selfish prince was in the act of stealing Song and Naina's ostrich-horse. Without hesitation, she slapped his hands hard away from the ostrich-horse's reins.

**"What is your problem?!"** she hissed in a low voice. Uncle hastened to join them.

**"What's your problem?!"** Zuko hissed back just as fiercely, displeased at having had his hands slapped.

**"Zuko, these people just showed you great kindness!"** Uncle whispered worriedly.

**"So their about to show us a little more,"** Zuko replied and went to grab the reins again. Before he could though, Kali snatched them away hastily in one hand and grabbed one of his hands in her other.

**"Look, 'your Highness.' I know you're used to getting whatever you want whenever you want, even in your state of banishment, but that's not how it works out here in the real world. Welcome to the lowly life of a normal peasant. In fact, you're not even up to that level. You're a fugitive. But let me tell you something. Just because you're a fugitive doesn't automatically have make you a thief. So long as you can afford to do without something and afford to get the things you do need, there's no cause for that. We can live without an ostrich-horse."**

**"But we can't travel as fast. I need to travel faster. I have to find the Avatar!"** he growled back determinedly.

**"Well then, I guess we'll just have to BUY an ostrich-horse then, won't we?"** she said evenly, her eyes flashing, **"Rather than STEAL from the people who just saved your uncle's life and treated us to a nice meal."**

He looked down at her as if he wanted to simply push her out of the way. For a moment, she thought he might try it. Then, Uncle put his hand on Zuko's shoulder.

**"Zuko, she is right,"** he said quietly, looking up at Zuko sadly.

Zuko glared at her again then started to walk away. Kali glared after him then retied the ostrich-horse to its post and followed him, Uncle walking beside her still looking worried.

XOXO

As they pulled apart, Masami's face was red as it usually was around Aang, but this time he could see it when something around them began to glow. It reminded Masami stars, and she didn't know to make of it, but it was beautiful. She smiled, looking around, her arms still on Aang's neck. They slowly pulled apart and smiled,

**"That was how they found each other...not torches."** Masami marveled, spinning herself around, to get looks at the crystals from all angles. She must have looked silly, spinning in circles there, but when she looked back at Aang and Appa, Aang had a look on his face she'd never seen before. It was one of adoration that she hadn't gotten from anyone before. It made her heart flutter a bit, she looked down a bit, and chewed her lip. Before she spoke, he caught up with her, taking her hand as he had times before today, and he pointed,

**"I think we can get out this way."** He said, leading the way. She nodded, and she followed him blindly, she often did that, since the first day they'd met....she hadn't thought of that before, but she really had followed him blindly and it turned out to be a great choice on her part, though she wasn't sure if that was the same for her sister, but she hoped so. As they near the exit, Appa runs past them, and seems overjoyed to be back outside. She smiled widely, and nearly screamed as a wall was destroyed behind them, and some large animal showed their other friends out.

**"Glad you guys made it out....?"** Masami said with a shocked look. Chong smiled,

**"How'd you guys get out?"** Sokka asked them, sliding off the animal.

**"Just like the legend says: we let love lead the way."** Aang said, squeezing Masami's hand.

**"Really? We let huge ferocious beasts lead our way."** Sokka said looking to wave goodbye to the moles.

**"Why is your forehead all red?"** Aang asked, pointing at Sokka. But, before he could answer, Chong spoke,

**"Nobody react to what I'm about to tell you. I think that kid might be the Avatar."** Chong motioned to Sokka. Masami laughed out loud, then covered her mouth with her free hand.

**"So, are you guys gonna come to Omashu with us?"** Aang asked the group, Moku answered,

**"Nope."** He said with a smile, Aang nodded,

**"Okay. Thanks for everything, Moku."** He said through his nod. Masami glanced from her spot next to Aang as Chong spoke to Sokka and gave him a necklace he wore.

**"Sokka, I hope you learned a little something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey."** He said, almost wisely, hugging a blushing Sokka,

**"Just play your songs."** Sokka griped.

**"Hey, good plan!"** Chong said, bursting into song**, "Even if you're lost you can't lose the love because it's in your heart. Ooooohhhh…**" As they left, Sokka muttered,

**"The journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it's really about – the destination! I present to you the Earth Kingdom city of O…Oh, no…"** He stopped as they paused on the crest of a hill, seeing that the Fire Nation had taken over this Great City of Omashu, leaving them all speechless.

XOXO

Kali was still feeling outraged because of Zuko's behavior when they passed through the town center. To her surprise, the light to the ostrich-horse merchant's shop/house was still on. Thinking to resolve this problem and knowing she had enough money for it, she went up to the door and knocked on it lightly. She needed to let him know she couldn't come back to work the next day anyway. The merchant opened the door hesitantly.

**"Oh, it's you."**

"**Yes sir. I needed to tell you that, due to a sudden change of plans, I won't be able to come back to work the next two days as I'd originally hoped to. Please, accept my apologies," **she bowed**, "but it's important that I move on with haste. I was wondering if I might be able to buy one of your ostrich-horses in order to aid myself and my uncle and brother in our travels."  
**  
He frowned down at her and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

**"Which one would you be wanting?"**  
**  
"The large dark one with the white tail, if possible, sir. The price is still the same as it was this afternoon, correct?"**

**"Well...it would be for anyone else,"** he scowled down at her, "**But since you promised me two more days and then went back on it, I'll be charging you a little extra."**

Kali looked up at him uneasily then glanced back at Zuko, who's face had contorted angrily. Uncle had his hand on his shoulder again, apparently as a way of holding him back without making it appear so.

**"How much extra, sir?"**

"How much do you have?"

She stared up at him, feeling slightly resentful, then reminded herself that he was, understandably, also feeling a bit resentful at the moment which was why he was doing this. She poured out nearly all her money into the palm of her hand, making sure to neglect a few coins in her pouch.  
**  
"Will this do?"**

He counted them then smiled slightly.  
**  
"I'll take it. Go on and get your ostrich-horse and leave then."**

He watched them warily as Kali found the ostrich-horse she'd indicated, the biggest and strongest of the herd. This was fortunate, since they wouldn't have all fit on a smaller one. First Kali, then Zuko mounted. They helped Uncle up between them and rode off slowly into the night.


	8. Pentapox!

Aang and Sokka seemed devastated about the discovery of the city. Masami didn't know anything about their previous business here, but she could tell nothing was going to go well here, where the Fire Nation was, trouble lingered.

**"I can't believe it. I know the war has spread far, (he turns to face his friends) but Omashu always seemed...untouchable."** Aang said, staring sadly at the city. Masami and Sokka stood behind him,

**"Up until now, it was. Now Ba-Sing-Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left."** Sokka admonished, hanging his head

**"We have to move on."** Sokka urged, his head low still.

**"No. I'm going in to find Bumi."** Aang said firmly. Sokka looked up, concerned,

**"Aang, stop. We don\'t even know if Bumi's still..."** He stopped as Aang turned to look at him harshly

**"What? If he's still what?"** Aang demanded,

**"...around."** Sokka finished sadly.

**"I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people around who can teach you earthbending."** Sokka reasoned. Masami nodded, she didn't like the idea of going into that city.

**"This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend."** Aang said strongly, ending the conversation. What could they say to that? They all climbed aboard Appa and floated down into the moat. They stopped by the wall,

**"A secret passage?"** Sokka asked. Aang nodded, using his glider as a lever, trying to pry open a drain hole.

**"Why didn't we just use this last time?"** Sokka asked, as green water...or what was once water came pouring out.

**"Ugh!"** Sokka gripped as he sloshed around a bit. Masami giggled, Aang looked at the slosh.

"**Does that answer your question?"** He asked, helping Masami into the pipe. As they moved inside, Sokka held his nose, whining about the smell. Aang moved the sewage with his staff, Masami bent her way through it, and Sokka was stuck taking the blunt of the blows of sewage from them both. As they climbed up through the manhole cover, Sokka climbed up last, and Aang dropped the cover down in place.

**"That wasn't terrible."** Masami said, looking at the others, and nearly screaming as an alien looking creature stood behind them. Aang and Masami looked terribly afraid, and she bent some water and splashed the moaning creature clean, and the creature is actually Sokka, scared himself. As he was cleaned, he slumped, until Aang shot some air at him, drying him off. Sokka screamed again. He slowly raised his head and looked at the others. and he screamed again as there were little purple octopi stuck to his face until the began to squeak.

**"Aaahhh!"** He screamed, grabbing at the octopi, trying to pry them from his face, unsuccessfully.

**"Aaahh! Aahhh! They won't let go! Help! Aaaak!"** He cried, Aang tackled him, and moved him into a wall, shushing him,

**"Stop making so much noise. It's just a purple pentapus." **He said, tickling the little creatures, causing them to let go. Sokka's eyes bugged a bit as they made little noises at him, but they let go.

**"How cute!"** Masami gushed, moving closer to the other two, tickling one of the creatures in Aang's hands. She took the one from his right, and let it crawl across her fingers. She then froze as she heard someone scream,

**"HEY!" **

XOXO

They'd spent the night putting some distance between themselves and where they knew Azula was currently. Uncle had explained to her how Azula had tricked them into the boarding the ship with the intention of bringing them home as prisoners. Ozai had ordered her to capture them, proclaiming Uncle a traitor for the role he'd played at the North Pole and Zuko a failure for not capturing the Avatar yet. They'd been fortunate in that the captain of the boat had slipped while speaking and revealed Azula's true intentions. They'd also been lucky to escape as Azula had evidently almost struck Zuko down with lightning. Lightning bending. Kali hadn't known it was possible. It sounded very exciting and very dangerous.

They'd arrived in a town Kali had passed through before not too long after the sun came up. Kali yawned. She'd led the ostrich-horse for most of the night, taking a break a one point to catch some sleep while Zuko took the reins. He'd said nothing since they'd left Song's house. She was fine with that. She'd resumed leading the ostrich-horse, whom she'd named Zolo, not too long before dawn in order to make sure they ended up in the town she was aiming for. She was on good terms with a few of the people there and hoped the kind inn keeper who'd let her stay in his inn for free when she was little would let her do so for a decent price this time. After all, she wasn't a scared little girl anymore and this time she had two men with her. She stopped Zolo in front of the inn, walked up to the door, and knocked on it.  
**"Come in,"** said Haruka, the inn keeper.

She opened the door, leading Zuko and Uncle in after her.

**"Hello, Sifu Haruka,"** she said, bowing. He had also been the first one to teach her about swordplay.

**"Kali! It is good to see you! Ha, you know you don't have to call me Sifu!,"** he exclaimed, smiling and strolling over to give her a hug,

**"My, how you've grown! How long has it been?"**

"**About 5 years now. You got the letter I sent you, I hope?"**  
"

**Yes, Kali. I greatly appreciated to hear you were doing well,"** he glanced at Zuko and Uncle,

**"Who might these men be?"**

**"Haruka, I'd like to introduce you to Lee and Mushi. They're refugees from the Fire Nation and friends of mine. I was wondering if we might be able to stay at your inn for a night. This is all I have."** She held out the few coins she'd managed to save from the ostrich-horse merchant's clutches.

**"I know it's not much, but, if it's not enough, is there anything I can do to help pay for the night?"**

He frowned down at the money.

**"It's not so much that I'm not willing to oblige you as that, well, I only have one room free at the moment. It's a small room with only one bed and a very hard floor. Are you three..up for sharing such a room?"** They all glanced at each other sideways. They were exhausted from the night's travel. Kali nodded to him.

**"Yes, sir. I think we are. What can I do to help make up for the money I lack right now?"**  
He smiled at her.

**"I'm sure I can find some chores around the place for you to do, just like last time. The room's upstairs. Take a right and then it's the last one on your left."** Uncle bowed to him.

**"Thank you very much for your generosity."** Haruka bowed back to him in turn.

**"Any friend of my former student is a welcome guest**." Kali led them upstairs. They opened the last door to the left and sighed. The three of them stepped in. Haruka hadn't been kidding. It was a tiny room with a tiny bed. There was barely enough space for the three of them to stand between the door and the bed. Realization donned on them all and they eyed each other for a moment. Then, all at once, they sprang for the bed.

**"Dibs on it!"  
**

**"No it's mine!"  
**

**"I'm more tired than you!"  
**

**"Oh yeah, well I was driving practically the whole night!"  
**

**"So what?!"  
**

**"I've got it!"** In the end, Kali and Zuko consented to let Uncle have the bed. He was the oldest after all (by many years) and thus was theoretically more sensitive when it came to sleeping. As Kali lay on the incredibly hard floor (Haruka hadn't exaggerated about that either), trying to sleep and listening to Uncle's snores shake the entire room, she wondered if he really needed the bed as badly as he'd suggested. After a long while of being unable to sleep, she finally gave up and went downstairs to do whatever chores Haruka asked of her.

XOXO

The group froze as some Fire Nation guards came up behind them. Masami jerked the Pentapus, which she now intended to keep behind her back, and she swallowed,

**"What are you kids doing out past curfew?"** The guard demanded,

**"We were just heading home."** Masami said slowly. As they turned away, one of them pointed at Sokka and stopped them again,

**"Wait! What's the matter with him?"** He said, motioning at his neck, where little welts were. Masami hadn't even seen them! She spoke quickly as the guards got closer, placing her hands infront of them, urging the guards to stay away,

**"He has pentapox!"** She cried,

**"It's highly contagious!"** She urged them, making them stop in their tracks. Sokka realized what Masami was getting at, and he began to act ill. He faked being in a Zombie-like state, and made loud moaning noises, wobbling lightly.

**"Uuuuuu....It's so awful...I'm dyiiiing..."** He wailed, clutching his sides dramatically.

**" ...and deadly...!"** Masami tossed onto the end. Sokka wobbled towards them, and the guards backed off further,

**"Wait, I think I've heard of pentapox. Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"** One of them panicked, and squealed like a woman as Sokka gurggled a bit, and spit up something on them.

"We'd better go wash our hands...and burn our clothes!" They cried, taking off at a run. Masami tried very hard not to laugh at the guards, but as they were gone, she couldn't help but chuckle, and turn back to Aang who was stroking the other Pentapus,

"**Thank you, sewer friend!"** He cooed to the little animal.

XOXO

Once again, Kali was cleaning. Made her think of the Shoeboat. Strangely enough, she kind of missed that rickety old ship. She definitely missed the crew and Music Nights. She glanced out the window where Zolo was tethered. She needed to take him out to feed at some point. He'd be fine if she could find some decent grass for him to eat, which in the town was scarce. Zuko and Uncle appeared at the top of the stairs and came strolling down, Uncle looking refreshed and Zuko appearing sluggish and cranky as usual.

**"I feel much better after that excellent nap,"** said Uncle cheerfully,

**"Lee and I are on our way to the town center. We've decided that since we'll only be here a day, rather than get jobs, we'll simply beg."**

**"Beg?"** said Kali, startled. The image of the proud stubborn prince begging seemed very strange. She raised an eyebrow at Zuko who glared grumpily ahead, his arms crossed.

**"Yes,"** said Uncle,

**"I thought it might be nice if we provided some of the money for a change and, as I was telling Lee, people will help provide you with what you need if you know how to ask."** Kali had always tried to avoid begging. She had a strong sense of pride when it came to that. Depending on people and being unable to give them anything in return was something she could hardly bear. She always did what she could to find a way to pay back debts. She supposed, though, that this would be their best choice given the circumstances. She didn't see why Zuko, if not Uncle, couldn't at least look around for a job to do for the day but she didn't feel like arguing. She watched as the two of them made their way down the street slowly, Zuko drifting behind a leisurely strolling Uncle. She perked up a bit. Maybe, if she finished her chores in time, she'd get a chance to use the bed before they came back.

XOXO

They moved towards an underground place someone had pointed them towards. Aang moved about, looking for a leader. Masami simple followed him slowly, she kept her distance, and as they found a leader, she tried to grasp some of the situation,

**"So, is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?"** The resistance leader scoffed,

**"Of course not! The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city...to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered."** Aang's face fell, and Masami looked towards him, wanting to touch him, but not knowing of now was the time that.

**"The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said...nothing!"** The man said vehemently. Aang hung his head, and the leader spoke again,

**"It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for**." The leader said strongly.

"**Actually there's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."** Aang reasoned wisely, making Masami smile.

"**You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at ANY cost!"** The resistance Leader growled.

**"I don't know, living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me."** Some others spoke up,

**"Yeah, I'm with the kid!"** Another agreed.

**"Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?" **The Leader questioned,

**"Suckers**!" Sokka screamed, getting looks,

**"You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."** Sokka clarified.

XOXO

With no Uncle snoring and a stiff bed instead of an incredibly hard floor, Kali fell asleep quickly. She found herself trapped in a strange dream. She appeared to be living underwater. She felt alright with it at first, strangely enough, but then she realized she was trapped under ice and, horrified, struggled to break through the ice. Her firebending was working this time though. She looked down and saw Masami under the water too. Masami must be a terrified as I am, she thought, then realized that Masami seemed quite happy actually. She was riding what appeared to be a large purple pentapus, only the pentapus had faces on the ends of its tentacles. She saw Uncle-tentacle drinking tea somehow with his suckers and spotted two people who appeared to be Sokka and Lieutenant Jee. Masami was hugging one tentacle to her tightly, kissing it, and Kali could see that it was Aang. Heart shaped bubbles swirled around them. Finally, Kali got a look at the last tentacle. It was Zuko. Zuko-tentacle had his previous hair-style and was wearing his usual scowl. He also looked like he was about to stab Aang and Masami in the back with two swords which he was somehow holding despite his being a tentacle. Kali tried to swim over towards them and yell at them to watch out, but she choked on the water and her vision blurred. When her vision resumed properly working, she was in Zuko's room in the shoeboat. For a brief, unrealistic moment, she thought she'd actually woken up in Zuko's bed. Then she saw Masami laying on top of Zuko's altar-table with Aang on top of her. She looked at them in confusion and tried to ask them what was going on here but then a dozen tiny ostrich-horses appeared, dancing around her face and started chanting in Masami's voice.

**"You need a boyfriend, Kali! You need a boyfriend! You need to get one, RIGHT NOW!"**

As they said **"RIGHT NOW!"** they shoved her back into the bed and she looked down and realized she was laying on top of Zuko. What was truly absurd was that he was puckering up like he was about to kiss her. She felt numb and stiff like she couldn't move and Zuko's face advanced toward hers.

**"NOOOOOOOO!!"** she screamed. Then something landed on her lap and she groaned aloud, waking up from the dream to see Zuko glaring down at her. What had been dropped on her was Uncle Iroh's hat with a significant amount of coins in it and Zuko's pack.

**"Wake up,"** he frowned down at her. As if she hadn't already woken up, she thought irritably, nonetheless relieved he'd woken her up before dream-him could kiss her. She frowned and started to get out of the bed. Then she looked down and saw she had on no clothes! Zuko, Uncle, Haruka, Hadji, Obi, Garron, Adar, Khan, Aang, and that obscure cabbage merchant she'd seen multiple times all stared at her with various degrees of inappropriate looks on their faces. She looked around for her clothes and grabbed the little fuzzy lemur which was always with the Avatar's group and held him in front of her.

**"AAAAHH**!" She woke up. She looked around at the empty room and took it all in, testing her senses. Relieved, sure that it was real this time and confident that she had all her clothes on (she checked to make sure), she walked down to the kitchen to ask Haruka if he wanted help making dinner.

XOXO

The following day, Sokka moved about the group, carrying a bucket full of Pentapi. He would move from one person to another, setting the animals on them, and then removing them after enough time had elasped to leave little marks, making the people appear ill. He smiled at his work and soon spoke to the group as a whole,

**"The marks make ya look sick, but you gotta ACT sick, too. Ya gotta sell it!"** He said with a flourish. His attention drifted to an other man, groaning and holding his "aching back". Sokka smiled,

**"Now that's what I'm talkin' about."** He said, slinging his arm around another citizen. The old man looked back at him and smiled, tapping his peg leg with his cane.

**"Years of practice."** He assured. The trio stood behind the large group, as Sokka shouted and pointed,

**"Okay everyone! Into sick formation."** Sokka moved to go with the group, and Masami started to follow when Aang moved the oppisite direction, Momo chittering loudly,

**"Aang, come on."** She said quietly, reaching towards his back. He faced her,

**"No. I'm not leaving until I find Bumi."** He said firmly, as she retracted her hand. Momo made more noise, and he pulled on Aang's face.

**"Sorry Momo, I'll feed you later."** He said, setting the monkey down, and air bending himself onto the roofs of houses nearby. Masami watched him go, and turned herself towards the rest of the group, making noises of illness, and following the crowd, but she wasn't really all there, her thoughts were with the searching air bender.

As the group exited the city, the soldiers came into view, terrified. Most of the scattered, one of them looking back long enough to scream,

**"Plague! Plague!"**

XOXO

Uncle returned just before dinner for the inn's guests was served. Haruka's was a small inn and also served as his house, so there were only a few other people staying there. Kali blanched as she helped serve the table. That cabbage merchant was here! Why was it he seemed to be everywhere?! Arrgh! She looked over at Uncle as he came in, looking pleased. He happily informed Kali that he'd gotten enough money thanks to others' kindness that they could now pay off the rest of their debt to Haruka, who thanked him but insisted that Kali's helping him and the money she'd already given him would be enough.

**"Where's Lee?"** asked Kali. Uncle's face turned serious.

**"He said he was going to buy something he needed. I offered to go with him but he insisted I should take the rest of the money and come back without him so that I wouldn't be late for dinner."** Kali furrowed her brow and wondered what this "something he needed" was. She hoped it wasn't going to bring them trouble. Uncle went upstairs to put the money away in a safe place then returned to sit near the end of the table Haruka was at. Kali served him, then took her seat next to Zuko's empty one. To her left sat Zuko's empty chair, Iroh, and Haruka. To her right and across from her were seated the cabbage merchant, a trio of young men who were also refugees, a man on his way to visit his cousin, and another merchant. She took a bite of the fish in front of her and listened to the cabbage merchant talk with the other merchant. It turned out his name was Po Po and it seemed to him that everywhere he went, misfortune befell him.

**"A few months ago, I had my cart destroyed twice by this one kid. I'm sure it was the same kid! I was in Omashu the first time and he and his friends ran my cart over in one of the containers they use to deliver mail in Omashu. Then, a two or three weeks later, my cart was destroyed by that same kid who somehow knocked it down a street into these pirates who were chasing him and his friends. He just waved his staff and the cart shot back into them! It was devastating!"** Kali raised her eyebrow. She had a feeling that kid he was talking about was the Avatar. And that mention of pirates meant it had been on the day she'd first been separated from Masami.

**"I'll tell you what, though,"** said Po Po,

**"I'm hoping real soon to advance my prospects a bit. I'm thinking that pretty soon I'll trade in my cabbages and start selling cantaloupes! Maybe cantaloupes are luckier than cabbages. They're certainly tastier and more popular from what the other vegetable and fruit merchants have said."** Kali turned to her left and saw that Haruka and Uncle Iroh were getting along famously. Then she looked at the blue-eyed, dark-haired boy who was sitting in front of her. He appeared to be only half-listening to the merchants. He looked back at her and gave her a friendly smile.

**"Hi, I'm Conall."  
**

**"I'm Kali. You're refugees too, right?"** She glanced at his two companions, one of whom was sitting beside her and the other next to him.

**"That's right,"** jumped in the tan, dark-eyed friend sitting next to him, **"I'm Dwi Shu and this is Miki." **He indicated the friend next to Kali. He was also tan, but had hazel eyes and lots of hair. He waved at her shyly then looked back at his food.

**"Nice to meet you all. So, where are you guys from? And where are you headed? Ba Sing Se?"** Conall nodded.

**"Yep, we're headed to Ba Sing Se. What about you?"  
**

**"We're still figuring out exactly where we want to go,"** she thought quickly,

**"My unc-I mean, my friend's uncle, Mushi, is still trying to contact their relatives to see if we can stay with them."  
**

**"Gotcha."  
**

**"We're from the southern area of the Earth Kingdom," broke in Dwi Shu, "We're from a little town called Ninsunta. For a while, the Fire Nation left us alone, but last year, they invaded and when we refused to go down without a fight, they burned our village to the ground. Even with the few waterbenders living in our town, we couldn't put the fire out fast enough. So we all split up into smaller groups to travel to Ba Sing Se and Omashu. I heard Omashu got taken over now though."** Kali frowned.

**"Really? Guess that means Ba Sing Se's the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left now then."** They all sat in silence for a moment, letting the weight of the thought seep in. Even Po Po was silent.

**"Who wants seconds?"** asked Haruka, to break the silence. Several members of the group, including Uncle, helped themselves to a second round. As Kali turned to pass a plate to Miki, she noted that he had rather inconveniently wandering eyes. He darted his gaze away hastily as she passed him the plate but not before Kali had figured out what he had been so sneakily staring at. It made her glad he hadn't appeared in her dream too. Speaking of sneakiness, at that moment, Zuko walked in, carrying a set of worn out clothes. He strolled past the dinner table up the stairs. Kali exchanged glances with Uncle. She recognized that set up. Nothing but some new clothes eh? She had a feeling there were some shiny things hidden within those clothes, which would mean (and she hoped this wasn't the case) that the Blue Spirit had returned.  
The group around the table picked up their varied conversations where they'd left off. The merchants and the man on his way to see his cousin discussed fruits and vegetables a lot (as it turned out, the other merchant was a spinach merchant), Uncle and Haruka talked about tea and fine food a lot, and Kali talked a lot with the boys about traveling, comparing notes with them about the places they'd been and things they'd done while making sure to keep her arms conveniently crossed over her chest for the rest of the evening.

Later, Kali brought up some leftovers for Zuko to eat if he wanted them and saw that he appeared to be asleep on the floor already. Uncle had fallen asleep as well and was snoring. Kali doubted Zuko was really asleep so she set the food next to him and whispered.

**"You can stop pretending and just eat. I won't talk to you. You won't even know I'm here."** She walked back to her spot on the other side of the floor while Zuko continued to pretend he was asleep. She lay down for a moment, then decided she'd take her chances sleeping somewhere downstairs and go up to leave. As she closed the door, she could hear Zuko start eating.

XOXO

The exiting of the city had been easy, almost too easy, but the pox helped. As they set up some form of quarters for the night, Sokka and Masami looked up as Aang and a large rabbit creature lumbered out of the city.

**"We looked everywhere. No Bumi."** Aang said sadly, dropping beside Masami. Her expression saddened, and she held Aang close. He rested his head into her shoulder, and the rabbit made a sad noise, and Sokka hugged him. They were spoken to from behind,

**"We've got a problem. We just did a head count."** The Resistance Leader said nervously, Masami looked at him, her head still resting on top of Aang's,

**"Did we lose someone?" **She asked, concerned.

**"No, we have an extra."** He said, pointing to a terrified Momo being hugged tightly by a baby. Momo tugged the baby around, and the baby laughed with delight. The laugh brought a smile to Masami's face and she looked at the rest of the group as Sokka went to retrieve the child from the struggling lemur. He brought them both back to the group, and the toddler began to wobble around between the three of them. Masami knelt and the baby waddled towards her. She lifted him, and brought him back to sit with her and Aang. She let him sit on her legs, and he giggled happily, and grabbed her cheeks as she scrunched up her face. She put him down for a moment to fix her hair and he toddled over and started to play with Sokka's club, lifting it and chewing on it.

**"No! Bad Fire Nation baby!"** Sokka scolded. The baby began to cry, and Masami took the child under the arms and lifted him, and she made faces and he slowly smiled. She smiled back and she kissed the top of his head, and put him back down, and he toddled back towards Sokka and reached for the club.

**"Oh...alright."** Sokka said, relinquishing the club to the child, who giggled happily and began to pound it on the ground. Masami smiled, and leaned over the child,

**"You are the cutest thing I've ever seen!"** She cooed. The Resistance Leader scoffed,

**"Sure he's cute now, but when he\'s older, he'll join the Fire Nation army. You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."** Masami looked up at the man, holding the child still, as he played with the club all the while

**"You can't be the judge of that just because of where someone comes from."** She said darkly, keeping her focus on the child. Aang smiled lightly for the frist time in a while, and he spoke,

**"I never knew you liked kids this much."** He said watching her with the baby as the Resistance leader mumbled to himself about womanly weakness and moved away from them. She watched him go, her eyes narrowed and she smiled slowly back at Aang,

**"I love kids. When I lived at home, I loved playing with the younger kids anytime I had the chance. Grandfather always said Kali and I would be great mothers one day."** She said happily, finally letting go of the child, who took no notice, and merely swung the club weakly, hitting Sokka in the leg. Sokka yelped and rolled over the log, and the toddler clapped,

**"Mom, huh? You want a big family?"** Sokka asked, holding his leg and climbing back over the log,

**"As many kids as I can take care of."** She said with a smile, looking at them, then back at the child,

**"Lucky you, Aang."** Sokka joked, causing Aang's face to redden a bit at the thought. Before anything else could be spoken, the leader came back,

**"A messenger hawk!"** He said, pointing to a nearby rock. Aang stood, and moved to get the message from the pouch the bird carried.

**"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son. So...he wants to make a trade. His son for King Bumi."**

XOXO

The next morning, Kali got up early at Haruka's request. It'd been a long time since she'd practiced swordplay with him and he'd was anxious to see how much she'd improved since they'd last seen each other. They stood now in the little alley behind his inn. They bowed then each drew their pair of swords out and struck fighting stances. Kali was excited and nervous. She wanted to make her former master proud. He'd been her first and last official master. She'd picked up the rest of her sword-fighting knowledge from watching other people, personal practice, and challenging other people to skirmishes during her travels.

She waited patiently, wanting him to make the first move. At first, it seemed as though they may be forced to simply have a staring match. Kali forced herself to remain calm and wait, despite how anxious she was to get the match started. Finally, after they'd fully circled around twice, he made his move, lunging forward, his right sword leading. Kali pivoted to the side and their swords clashed. She took two steps backwards and swiped at his with her right while thrusting with her left. She did so in a conservative fashion, trying to get a quick sense of his style, strengths, and weaknesses as he'd taught her to. He hastily defended against her moves then returned the thrust with his left. She parried then tested him a bit more. He took the offensive in response to her tentative efforts and began driving her backward, attempting to pin her against the inn. Instinctively recognizing the danger, she jumped back then cut forward, slicing downward and driving his swords back a bit before dodging to the side and pulling herself out of the trap. He smiled encouragingly then resumed his attack. She dodged it as well, taking advantage of her greater agility, then attempted a series of moves she'd learned from watching a performer in a traveling circus. He managed to block them, but nearly lost his hair bun in the process. She granted him just a moment to regain his composure and received a vicious assault in response.

**"You know better than that!"** Haruka shouted, once again forcing her to the defensive. His right sword came down hard as she blocked it with both her swords and his left moved in towards her from the side. Seeing the danger, she launched herself back onto the ground and rolled back, landing on her feet. On a sudden inspiration, she lunged back from under him, turning to slide on her back and catching him off guard as he advanced after her. She slid beneath him, blocking his swords with her own in the process, then popped up to her feet as he began to turn, hastily slashing her right sword to rest beside his neck. Both of them froze for a moment, then she relaxed and removed her blade from over his shoulder. He smiled down at her.

**"You have greatly improved since we last fought, Kali. It seems you've caught up with me as far as skill goes. I am proud to have once called you my student."**  
He bowed to her and she blushed.

**"Thank you, Master." **She bowed back.

**"Well, shall we do a bit more sparring before the rest of the inn wakes up and wants breakfast?" **he asked, grinning, "After all, I can't just accept defeat that easily."

**"It would be my pleasure,"** she replied, smiling competitively and backing up to strike another stance.  
As they continued their sparring, Kali caught a glimpse over Haruka's shoulder of the inn. Zuko was standing in one of the windows, watching them.

XOXO

The group sent a message back, detailing that they would meet in the morning to make the exchange. Masami trusted Aang's judgement and respected his conviction to his friend. It was very admirable, but Sokka voiced some opinion against their travels, and she would admit, he wasn't in the wrong for thinking such things.

**"You realize we're probably walking right into a trap?**" Sokka argued.

**"I don't think so. I'm sure the Governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi. It's a new day.I have a good feeling about this."** Aang said somewhat cheerily. Masami said nothing.

The group stopped at a scaffold of an unfinished statue. They slowly scaled a bit of it, and Masami handed the boy off to Sokka, in case she had to defend Aang. The baby reached for her lightly, and she turned back, wrinkling her nose at him and making a face before kissing his head and turning away. Soon, three females move before them. Masami didn't like the looks of the leader, but the other two didn't look so bad, but appearances could be decieving. They all stood, and looked up as an iron coffin looking cage was lowered, and an old man looked out. He looked to be a complete nutcase, or in Masami's opinion he did.

**"Hi, everybody!"** The man called. He must have been Bumi. The coffin landed behind the girls.

**"You brought my brother?" **One of the normal looking girl's asked. Aang nodded, motioning towards Sokka.

**"He's here. We're ready to trade."** He declared, standing tall. Things seemed to be going alright until the smallest girl spoke, her voice sent chills down Masami's spin.

**"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?"** She asked the one who had spoken before, the one whose brother was in their possesion.

"**Of course not, Princess Azula."** The tall one said emotionlessly.

**"We're trading a two year old for a king. A powerful, earthbending king?**" She checked with the old man, who nodded vigerously. He really was crazy. The girl...Princess? She wore Fire Nation garb...that could only mean Prince Pyropants had a family after all...and Masami didn't like the look of her one bit.

**"It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"** She continued. Masami wanted to glare, but she felt no need to make any unnessicary movements that could compromise the tallest girl seemed to mull the thoughts over, but apparently agreed with the princess, but then again, if she were as scary as her brother, who wouldn't have agreed?

**"You're right. The deal's off."** She said, motioning for Bumi to be raised again.

**"Whhhoa! See you all later!" **Bumi cried as he was being lifted away again. The imprisoned nutcase began to laugh, and Aang sprang after him. Masami was beginning to wonder what kind of company the people kept when he wasn't with her and Sokka.

**"Bumi!"** Aang cried as he went after him, running at the girls. Aang narrowly missed some blue flames tossed by the Princess, and Masami winced. Aang jumped high and he landed on a partly made building, opened his glider, and flew off, and so did his head covering, and his air bender tatoos were exposed, furthering Masami's wince.

**"The Avatar! My lucky day."** The Princess cooed. Masami didn't think so, but before she could do anything, the other girls were rushing them.

**"Get the baby out of here!"** Masami called to Sokka,

**"Way ahead of ya!"** He yelled, and held the Appa whistle Aang usually had. The baby took it and blew into it, and the group made a break for the edge of the platform. On the way, one of the girls, the skinny one, punched Sokka's foot and he fell, but landed on his back, protecting the child. Masami started to water whip the girl who'd attacked Sokka, but screamed and raised a block of wood to protect herself from getting knifed by the other girl's throwing daggers. She sent the wood back at the tall girl, and in turn whipped it around to catch Sokka's presuer's ankle, making her fall on her face. Sokka was able to make it down a ladder with the child, and Masami looked back, whipped the tall girl, and made off down the ladder as well.

The girls wouldn't give up that easily it seemed, and they set chase after Masami and Sokka. Masami whipped towards the dagger thrower, and she watched her avoided it. Masami narrowed her eyes, as the girl tossed another dagger. She blocked it with ice. The knife girl rushed at Masami, her arms sweeping back and forth, and Masami encased her arm in ice. She staggered a bit, and then the other girl was on her. Masami's heart pounded in her ears, and she felt the girl hit her in several places, making her nearly fall. Her arms were weak, and she tried to whip them away with water, but her arms weren't having it.

**"How are you gonna fight without your bending?" T**he tallest one taunted, readying herself to attack again. Masami began to panic until a very familiar boomerang flew right into the Mai's hands, knocking her newly found weapons away. Masami looked to see Sokka floating on Appa, and she had to admit she had never been happier to see the Water Tribe boy.

**"I seem to manage!"** He said happily, catching his boomerang. Sokka steered Appa into the middle of them, and Masami climbed aboard as his tail became a massive wrecking ball, smashing the scaffold. As they flew off, Masami pointed and cried,

**"Aang!"**

**"We can catch him!**" Sokka said, determinedly turning Appa to fly towards his master.

XOXO

Kali was sorry to bid Haruka farewell. It had been great seeing him again and she promised to send him a hawk the next time she got the chance. She bid farewell to Conall, Dwi Shu, and Miki as well, wishing them safe travels to Ba Sing Se. Conall, being the friendly sort he was, gave her a hug and wished her safe travels as well. Dwi Shu followed suit cheerfully and Miki gave her a little smile, waved, and said, "Bye." It was the first time she'd heard him say something. He made Zuko look talkative, she decided. With Zuko controlling the reins, Uncle and she climbed up onto Zolo and began their trip to wherever it was they were heading. They were heading vaguely in the direction Zuko seemed to think the Avatar would be.

The news of the sighting of the Blue Spirit had everyone in the town stirred up. Kali could hear the suspicions flying about as they passed through the center. Apparently he'd robbed a man of his broad swords the previous night. Kali glanced down at Zuko's new swords which he had "purchased." She wished he'd keep them better concealed until they got out of this town. The last thing they needed was to be accused of stealing and his identity as the Blue Spirit to be revealed. Hearing the mention of the man who'd lost his broadswords, Uncle frowned.

**"That sounds like that kind man who provided us with a gold piece yesterday. Such a shame!"  
**

**"He wasn't kind, Uncle,"** growled Zuko, **"He treated you like dirt and he nearly cut you."  
**

**"Why did he almost cut you?"** asked Kali, concerned. Uncle shrugged it off.

**"He wanted to see some performing in exchange for the gold piece. I told him we weren't professional but we'd try anyway. I was singing but apparently he wanted dancing, so he used his swords to encourage me to try it."** Kali scowled. It made her mind Zuko's stealing of his swords a bit less. At least he'd done it to a guy who'd acted like a creep. Nonetheless, though, it was still wrong. She was greatly relieved once they got out of town.

XOXO

As Sokka lowered Appa to the side, Aang climbed aboard, and they flew off, the baby still in tow. They flew off, Aang looking rather downtrodden. Masami didn't ask how things went with Bumi, after seeing the strange man earth bend himself away from Aang, she guessed it didn't go well. They flew towards the exit of the city, the baby toddling towards the edge.

**"No no, come back here."** Masami said, pulling the baby towards her. He giggled, and he wobbled towards Aang, who smiled lightly, lifting the child,

**"I think we should keep him."** Masami declared crawling across the saddle, curling up next to Aang. She leaned into him, and placed her lips on the side of his face, kissing him lightly. He smiled and he looked at her,

**"We have to give him back."** He said, being logical. She nodded, leaning on his shoulder. He turned his head far enough around to catch her lips, smiling lightly before he flew off to return the child,

**"But I promise there'll be kids around one day."** He said with a blush and flew off silently to return the little boy to his worrying family.

XOXO

Not too long after they'd left town, a sudden question popped into Kali's head. How was it exactly that the Blue Spirit had returned? Surely, Zuko hadn't somehow managed to get his mask from the ship after it exploded...and, even if he had, where had he been carrying it all this time? In his shirt? His pants? This abrupt strange train of thought made Kali smile to herself as she suppressed a giggle. She must not have gotten enough sleep last night. It was random trains of thoughts like that which reminded her of why she and Masami had connected so well the first time they'd met. Thinking of then made Kali sad. She missed her sister so much.

The first time they'd met was not too long after Masami's village had been wiped out. Kali had seen Masami before, but it had always been from a hiding spot. Her father hadn't taken her arrival on his doorstep particularly well and had ordered her to stay away from his family. She'd only stayed in the village a few days, trying to figure out what to do, where to go. Being only a small child who'd been lost for quite some time, she'd never actually considered what she would do if her father turned her away. She'd been counting on him to accept her. Eventually she'd decided she should move on before her father got angry at her for staying around. She'd spent her intended last night on a hill that overlooked the village. Unfortunately, it hadn't been her last night. It had begun to pour earlier that day and, after being turned away from the village, Kali had sought shelter underneath the trees on the hill. They'd been of little help but she'd felt better at least having something over her head. Thunder had boomed and lightning had flashed across the sky viciously. Horrible winds had lashed out from every direction. She'd been terrified and clung to the tree, unable to sleep, the entire night, anxiously awaiting the day's arrival. But the day had never come. Instead, the village and she had been trapped in what seemed like a never-ending night for what she now guessed had been nearly a week. Puddles formed everywhere and pretty soon, flooding began happening. Without the lightning, the village's lights were the only thing she could see in the darkness. She'd been trapped with the tree in the darkness for seemed like forever before she'd heard something that made the whole experience even worse. In the flashes of lightning, Kali had caught glimpses of the village being engulfed by a flood. People floating the water, gagging, swimming, struggling to survive or to help a friend. She heard the sounds of whole houses collapsing and being swept away. She caught glimpses of some people waterbending, attempting to protect themselves and others but eventually the flood had been too much for them. She'd thought of all the faces she'd seen not so long ago and wondered how many of them would be gone now. She'd worried for Masami and her family. Even if he'd turned her away, Dagan was still her father after all. Eventually, everything had just been darkness.

Not too long after the flood, the rain had stopped and the winds had gradually settled down. When the clouds finally cleared a bit and sun shown through, Kali could see she had been terribly lucky. The top of her hill was just barely above the level the flood had reached. Hesitantly, knowing the danger was over, she'd forced herself to release the tree and stood to look out over where the village had been. She was horrified to find it gone except for two house tops peaking just barely over the top of the water. One she saw was vacant of any people but the other...she squinted. It was her father's house, which had been the tallest, most firmly built house in the village. And on top of it, she could just barely make out a person. Masami! She'd wanted to swim out to make sure she was okay but had been too frightened the still strong current would sweep her away. Instead, she'd traveled quickly to a nearby town to see if it was still there. This town, Ninsunta (the one those boys had said they were from, she reflected), had been more fortunate and, upon hearing the news, had immediately sent people to help get Masami and any other potential survivors.

Masami had been the only survivor (well, not counting Kali but she was technically not a part of the village). Kali had wanted to comfort her but hadn't known how to approach her. How could she possibly tell this poor girl, who'd just lost her family and her village, that she was actually the child of an affair her father'd had and so they were kind of sisters? This didn't seem like a good time for it. Kali'd resolved to see Masami safely to her grandfather's home anyway, once she'd learned of him. It'd taken a little while but Kali had finally gotten up the nerve to speak to Masami. And even then, she'd waited a while before she'd tried to explain that they were related. Naturally, Kali had started with an awesome opening line when she'd entered Masami's room. Something memorable.

**"Hi."** Masami had looked up, startled.

**"Er, hello."** Kali had taken a couple hesitant steps forward then stopped.

**"Uh, I'm Kali. I was on the hill top not far from your village when the flood happened..."** she'd looked at the door, **"Mind if I come in?"  
**

Masami had shook her head no and sniffled a bit. It was obvious she'd been crying. Kali had been unsure of what to say next.

**"I'm...I'm glad you're okay. I was really worried when I heard the flood happening that...I might be the only person left. I'm really sorry about your family and your village."** Masami had sniffled a bit more and looked away, trying to hide tears.  
**"It....was so scary. And I miss my mom. I miss my dad too but especially my mom right now."** Kali had uneasily sat next to her on the bed. All had been silent while she'd tried to figure out what to say to that.

**"I know what it's like to lose your mom. I miss mine a lot too."** Masami'd looked up at her.

**"She...died in a fire a few years ago. I've been wandering around every since...looking for my father." **Kali'd thought about explaining it right then and there but had stopped on looking at Masami's tear-stricken face.

**"Did you ever find him?"  
**

**"Well...yeah. But...he didn't want me so I'm still stuck wandering I guess."** This subject wasn't helping cheer anyone up.

**"But that's okay,"** said Kali, forcing herself to perk up a bit,

"**I'll be fine. I've kind of gotten used to living like this and, well, it can be kind of fun sometimes. Get to see a lot of cool things and places and meet a lot of people,"** she changed the subject,

**"You're going to live with your grandpa, right?"** Masami nodded.  
**"Yeah."**

**"That's great. Where's he live?"**

**"On Kyoshi Island. I'm kind of scared to go there...since it's in the middle of the water. I mean, I'm a waterbender, but...after that flood...it's too scary. I don't know if I'll be able to make it."**

**"You're a waterbender? Wow, that's really cool. I...wish I could waterbend," Kali** thought about telling her about her firebending but worried that would just upset her,

**"What's your grandpa like?"  
**

**"He's really kind and fun. I haven't gotten to see him since he and my dad got in a fight. I never found out what it was about. I'm just glad I've got him. He doesn't know about the flood yet but someone sent him a hawk to let him know I'm coming."  
**

**"That's good. Kyoshi Island's not too far from here, right?"  
**

**"Nope. It's really close actually." **Kali had furrowed her brow.

**"Isn't that where they have girls trained as warriors who dress up like one of the Avatars? Like Kyoshi?"  
"Yeah**."

**"I'd think it'd be tough fighting in long skirts like that. I'm...not really a big fan of skirts though. I like wearing pants to be honest,"** Kali smiled sheepishly. Well, it was worth a try.

**"I...guess you could say I like being the one wearing the pants in a relationship."**  
It hadn't been that funny of a joke really but Masami had perked up a bit at it. She'd even smiled.

**"I bet. I like skirts fine myself but there's nothing wrong with pants, that's for sure."**

**"That makes me think...if I'm the one wearing the pants in the relationship, does that mean the guy has to wear a skirt?"** Kali'd smiled a bit more as Masami's smile had grown.  
**"I'll bet a guy would look really funny in one of those Kyoshi outfits."** Masami had flat out giggled at that.

**"Yeah, I bet you're right."** Kali's thoughts returned to her present situation. Zuko stopped to let Zolo have a chance to drink and eat. After the ostrich-horse had gotten a decent break, Kali took the reins and they mounted up again. She missed Masami more than ever now.

XOXO

As they left Omashu, they flew over towns and other things normal, but one day after flying for so long they came over a swamp. Masami sat beside Aang while he steered Appa, her body slumped against Appa as she slept. Momo's chattering woke her, she looked up to see Sokka and Momo looking over the side

**"Hey, you takin' us down for a reason?"** Sokka asked Aang. Aang had a glazed over look on his face, and didn't respond, but Appa did. Appa groaned,

**"Aang! Why are we going down?"** Sokka repeated, this time getting Aang's attention.

**"What? I didn't even notice!"** Aang cried, wiping his forehead.

**"Are you noticing now?"** Sokka asked. Masami, having only been half awake for most of the conversation slurred and sat up,

**"Wassthematter?"** She asked, her words messing together with sleep.

**"I know this is gonna sound weird, but… I think the swamp is… calling to me."** He said, addressing them both. Masami yawned, nodding,

**"Alright Aang."** She said, laying herself back down.

**"It is telling ya where we can get something to eat?"** Sokka asked sarcastically, holding his stomach.

**"No, I… I think it wants us to land there."** Aang said, still staring down at the trees below.

**"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on."** Sokka added dryly.

**"I don't know… Bumi said to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"** He asked, Masami cracked open an eye, looking down over the swamp as they got closer to it.

**"Yes!"** Sokka admonished.

**"I'm with Sokka, this place gives me the creeps."** Masami added, propping herself up on her elbows. Momo chittered and ran nervously about the saddle. Appa groaned as well,

**"See! Even Appa and Momo don't like it here."** Sokka pushed, trying to get them out of the swamp.

**"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this… bye swamp."** Aang said, pushing Appa upwards.

**"Yip! Yip!"** He said, with a toss of the reigns. Appa groaned and flew faster. As they looked back, they could see a huge tornado tearing out of the swamp after them.

**"You better throw in an extra "yip"! We gotta move!"** Sokka cried. The tornado stayed right on Appa's haunches, relentlessly trying to pull them in. With a shoat, Sokka is blown off the saddle, and Masami grabbed his arm quickly, holding on, but feeling herself being dragged with him. Aang hopped from the driver seat, and created an air bubble like structure around them, as they were lost to the tornado. As Sokka made it back into the saddle, the stronghold of air failed and collasped, sending everyone spiralling into the tornado, screaming and flying in different directions. Appa was lost first, and then the others fell somewhere together, Momo being lost along the way as well. Masami surfaced, panicking a bit being submerged, but Aang pulled her to her feet, holding her for a second before letting go to look for Appa and Momo.

**"Where's Appa and Momo?"** He asked, looking around, airbending himself high into the trees. Masami watched him, and her face fell as he called,

**"Appa! Momo!?"** And got no response.

XOXO

They'd been traveling a little over a week now since they'd left Haruka's town. Zuko was steering them based on the reports he'd heard of where the Avatar had last been sited, which was Omashu. Kali hoped they were traveling in the right direction. For all they knew, Aang, Masami, and Sokka could have taken a completely different course after they'd reached Omashu. They'd been making camp outside of towns for the most part, trying to avoid catching too much attention since they'd heard that Azula had also been in Omashu. Hearing that, Zuko had been beside himself with fury, convinced Azula was trying to take his prize now.

**"She knows I need the Avatar to regain my honor! She'd doing this on purpose just to make things harder!"** Uncle had sighed and tried to comfort him but to no avail. They all knew that Azula had way more resources than they did when it came to finding Aang and Kali worried a lot now for the safety of her sister and her friends. Zuko was one thing, Azula was another. She wasn't banished and Kali didn't doubt her devious, cunning mind would be ready to set all manner of traps for both Zuko and Aang.  
They reached a bigger town for the first time since they'd left Song's village and Zuko decided they should spend the night in an inn for a change, to which Uncle heartily agreed. Despite efforts to be thrifty, they'd still used up a fair amount of their begging money along the way for provisions (particularly tea, for Uncle). Oddly enough, however, the money seemed to be regenerating itself overnight. Kali had the Blue Spirit to thank for this, of course, but she was hardly thankful. Nonetheless, since they had the money, she decided it wouldn't hurt too much to sleep in a bed for a change. They found a suitable looking inn and walked inside.

**"How much for three rooms?"** asked Zuko. The man behind the desk raised an eyebrow.

**"You folks not related?"  
**

**"No, we are,"** said Uncle quickly,

**"These is my nephew and my niece. I think, however, due to our long travels, my nephew simply desire some time to himself for a change."  
**

**"You lot refugees?"** They nodded.

**"Well, we're kind of packed with refugees right now, but..."** They all groaned a bit, knowing what must be coming next. Why were the inns they picked always packed?

**"I should have one room with two beds open. I assume these two are sister and brother?"  
**

**"That is correct,"** Uncle nodded, while Kali and Zuko gave each other brief sideways glances.

**"Well then, they shouldn't mind giving you a bed to yourself and sharing one between themselves. Might not be the best privacy if that's what you were looking for, but times as they are, that's how it is."**

**"That**," said Uncle, smiling at Kali and Zuko,

**"Sounds like an excellent plan. And it is all too true that times are as they are. I'm sure my niece and nephew won't mind sharing a bed a bit. It'll be just like when they were little."**

He winked at them, his smile widening, while they tried not to visibly cringe.

XOXO

As they moved, Masami kept her arms close to her body. She didn't like this place, not at all. She swallowed and she glanced at her companions, pointing at Sokka.

**"You've got an elbow leech."** She said nonchalantly.

**"Where! Where!?"** Sokka cried, panicking. He lifted his arms, and he waved them around. She rolled her eyes.

**"Take a guess."**

**"Why do things keep attaching to me!?"** He cried, ripping the creature from his elbow. He threw it passed her head, and she ducked as the slimy miscreant flew above her. Aang slowly came down, landing near by,

**"No luck?"** She asked sadly, he shook his head,

**"No… and the tornado… it just disappeared."** He said, with a furrowed brow. They all looked in different directions, and Masami hugged herself tighter. They all decided it was best to move on and look for their lost companions.

**"We better speed things up!"** Sokka exclaimed, chopping away at veins.

**"Maybe… we should be a little nicer to the swamp."** Aang suggested.

**"Aang, these are just plants! Do you want me to say "please" and "thank you" as I swing my machete back and forth?"** Sokka asked sarcastically.

**"This place doesn't feel right. Maybe Aang's right."** Masami said, shuddering a bit. Aang touched her back, and she smiled lightly, calming down a bit. Sokka rolled his eyes, and looked back at them,

**"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here, and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can."** He said, swinging the machete more vigorously. They nodded slowly, following the knife-wielding boy. Though, soon enough it got dark. Masami was even more on edge by nightfall. She never knew how much she'd miss that flying bison and his little fuzzy companion.

**"Appa! Momo!"** Masami called out desperately.

**"There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night."** Sokka said, though what he had said didn't make her feel any better. Her hands took their spot back on her arms again, and she held herself before nodding. She looked down for a second, then looked back to see Sokka swatting at flies, and then a huge bubble burst behind them, startling her.

**"What?!"** She cried, jumping towards Aang and Sokka.

**"Nothing. Just swamp gas. Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here."** Sokka said, looking around a bit.

**"Ugh!"** They all cried in unison, waving their hands beneath their noses. The group stood frozen as a bird in the distance made a loud noise. Masami grabbed Aang, and Sokka made a grab for him as well and they all stood huddled in the midst of the falling darkness.

**"I think we should build a fire…"** Sokka said, as he ran towards a tree, trying to hack away at some vines or roots.

**"Sokka, the longer we're here the more I think you shouldn't be doing that."** Aang urged,

**"No, I asked the swamp. It said this was fine. Right, swamp? "No problem, Sokka!"" Sokka** said, lifting a root, making it '"talk" to Aang. Masami rolled her eyes, but neither said anything else. As the night progressed, Masami was getting more and more spooked. She didn't like this place at all, it seemed evil and very living to her, and she didn't care for it one bit.

**"Do either of you feel like we're being watched?"** She asked suddenly,

**"Please, we're all alone out here."** Sokka said, leaning back as he swatted at flies. He missed, and the fly began to glow. They all winced at the light, and then looked beyond them, and they could see eyes....many glowing sets of eyes.

**" …except for them."** Aang stuttered,

**"Right, except for them."** Sokka said with a scared gulp.

XOXO

Kali and Zuko stared down at the bed awkwardly. Uncle had already gotten into his bed and looked over at them, smiling.

**"Well, don't just stand there. We all need a good night's rest to prepare for our continued travel tomorrow. You should hurry up and get to bed."** They looked over at him with uncomfortable, displeased expressions. Both of them wanted the bed. They'd already had an argument over who would get it and in the end, neither of them had won.

**"Why should I have to sleep with her?! She's the one who's the peasant. She sleeps on the ground all the time anyway, she should be used to** it."

**"Hey, look here, Mr. High-and-Mighty, you've sunk down to my level now! If anything, you're even lower because you're the one who needed my help after you escaped Azula. I've been doing a lot of the work as far as money goes, and doing so honestly I might add."**

**"What's that supposed to mean?"  
**

**"I can't imagine how our money has been regenerating itself without anyone getting a job. Truly, it's amazing!"** she said sarcastically. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

**"You both really should relax and just go to bed If you keep arguing like this, I might never get to sleep. Besides, you might find that sleeping with each other isn't really as bad as you think."** He gave them a knowing smile, causing them to look at each other and shudder. The phrasing on that sounded like something Masami would say, thought Kali. After staring at the bed a little longer and exchanging a few more glances, Zuko finally broke the silence.

**"I'll take the left side."  
**

**"Fine, I'll take the right**." It was a small bed. This wasn't as bad as the closet had been but nonetheless, it still brought them a little too close for comfort. They turned their backs on each other and tried to pretend they weren't doing this. Both of them struggled to fall asleep. Kali's mind wandered as she huddled in on herself, then shifted, trying to get more comfortable. She felt restless. Thoughts of how awkward this was, of where Masami might be right now, of where Azula was, and of what they were going to do to catch up with the Avatar floated through her head. She tossed and turned, unable to get properly comfortable. Finally, Zuko turned to her suddenly and shouted.

**"Will you just pick a position and stick to it?!"** Both of them blanched at how loud that had been and at the accidental feel of innuendo that tinged it. Kali scooted a bit farther away from him and lay on her back staring up while Zuko turned back to face the other direction. This was going to be a very awkward night.

XOXO

The trio decided sleeping was their best bet, but the sleep didn't seem to last long. Masami felt herself jerked away from her male companions and thrown towards her left. She screamed loudly, struggling as she did. She panicked, pulling at her restraints, realizing they were vines. She hated this place! She was finally able to control her fingers enough to create a water whip, slicing through the vines holding her captive. She screamed again as she fell. She landed face first in the water, her eyes having little black parts around the edges for a second. She was woozy, but she stood up.

**"Aang?!"** She called, turning to look around,

**"Sokka?"** She called quieter that time, realization setting in that she was alone, and her stomach sank a bit. She began to listen for sounds of anything, and she thought she heard footsteps. They sounded small, so she hoped to God(Iroh) she'd found Aang. She turned around a tree and came face to face with an owlfish, and it hooted at her, and plopped back into the water from its large leaps. She screamed and ran from it, startled at every little thing in here.

**"I hate swamps."** She muttered. She then heard rustling behind her, scared the fish had followed her, she whipped water behind her, taking a fighting stance, only to turn and see nothing. She furrowed her brow,

**"Masami..."** Something called. She shivered, and she turned when something else caught her attention,

**"Sami-chii."** The voice called again. Her hair stood on end, and the voice echoed in her ears. No one knew that nickname but her mother...and her mother was long since dead. She could see her breath before her, despite the warmer temperature, and she turned slowly,

**"Mom?"** She asked. She knew by this point, she had lost her mind. She turned as she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked into the moonlight, and there was her mother. She ran towards her,

**"Mom!"** She cried. She didn't know she'd missed her so until now.

**"You shouldn't have lived, Sami-chii. You left your father and I....Why Masami? Why?"** She questioned, slowly floating away,

**"No! I didn't! You told me to live! You did!"** She cried, loudly, sinking to her knees, covering her face,

**"Sami-chii..."**Her mother called once more, before disappearing, leaving a flood of tears in her wake.

XOXO

It had taken a long time with both of them being so stiff and aware of each other's presence, but Kali had eventually fallen asleep out of sheer tiredness. It was a light sleep though and didn't last long. In her sleep, she felt something lightly touch her for a moment, then, abruptly had the air knocked out of her and felt something land on her face. She gasped and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Zuko's startled face and the first thing she felt (apart from his body on top of hers) was his mouth on top of hers.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHPT!"**

"**AAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHPT!"**

She punched him in the face automatically and he shoved himself off of her, in the process touching what the cabbage man in her dream a week ago had referred to as "nice cabbages." Both of them sprang out of bed, Kali hugging herself tightly and feeling violated. Not wanting to wake the loudly snoring Uncle, Kali hissed fiercely across the bed at him.

"**What in the name of Kyoshi were you doing?!"**

"**I wasn't doing anything but sleeping! How'd we get like that?" **he growled back angrily.

"**All I know is I was sleeping and I wake up and you're on top of me and practically kissing me!"**

"**Well all I know is I was sleeping and I wake up and you're under me and punching me in the face!"**

"**I'm NOT sharing that bed with you anymore!"**

"**Good, I'll take it! I didn't want to share it in the first place!"**

"**Oh no you don't! I'm taking the bed because you're the one who caused the problem in the first place!"**

"**There was a problem even before that with you moving all around! I couldn't sleep because of you!"**

"**At least I didn't roll over on top of you and try to kiss you, and then grab you in an awkward place! If I were still working for you, I'd find some way to get you in trouble for sexual harassment!"**

She immediately wished she hadn't said the word "sexual," because it immediately created a new brand of tension in the air, coincidentally called "sexual tension." The old tension remained but it was familiar and relatively speaking comfortable. This one just made things miserably awkward. And, of course, even in his sleep and after a brief snort, Uncle had something wise to say.

"**Hnnn, sex is good…but it's much harder out of bed than in bed. The floor has its advantages though. Gives you more room to move around in…"**

Both of them stared at him awkwardly. They really hadn't needed to know that.

"**The table is never out of the question either…though it makes the next day's roast duck call up strange memories…"**

Okay, they really hadn't needed to hear that! Uncle moved about drowsily in his sleep and snored a bit more before uttering one final phrase.

"**I would suggest sleep together tonight, leave the sex for another time…"**

Kali and Zuko looked at each other pale-faced. Neither of them said anything for a long time.

"**I think… we never heard that,"** said Kali quietly.

"**Yeah. Definitely. I didn't hear anything**…"

Without another word, they got back into bed. Neither of them slept very well for the rest of the night.

XOXO

Masami didn't move until she heard something coming up behind her. She looked back slowly, and Aang had found her. She thought at first he was another illusion, come to make her feel terrible. She expected him to shriek that she'd let him down, lost him, and didn't really love-love? That was a word she hadn't thought before, and in turn, it caused more tears to fall.

**"Masami!"** He said, launching himself at her, she scooted away from him, crawling through the slush,

**"I don't want to hear what you hate and regret about me to!"** She curled up, pulling her knees to her face. He fell to his knees behind her,

**"What?"** He asked,

**"I heard enough when my mother decided to make an appearance and screw with my head. "Why'd you leave us Sami-chii? You should have died too!" I don't want anymore of that! I can't take it! Not from...you**." She breathed, covering her face.

**"You saw something too?"** He asked, shaking the thoughts away,

**"She didn't mean that, Masami! I know she didn't! It was just the swamp being cruel! I know no one could feel that for their child! And I don't regret anything about you! I could never!"** He said, crawling towards her, this time able to touch her without her lurching away. He wrapped his arms around her neck, and he pulled her into him backwards.

**"Please look at me."** He whispered. She looked back into his eyes, and he locked their lips.

**"Never think that Masami. You mean so much to me."** He said, pulling her closer. She relaxed into him for a second,

**"I'm sorry Aang, I shouldn't have said that. It was wrong of me. I know you care about me, and I care about you**." She spun in his embrace, lacing her arms around his neck, connecting their lips again, trailing her tongue along his bottom lip, asking for entrance to his mouth, and he opened his mouth slowly, and their tongues slid passed each other nervously, but before the kiss could really be finished, a scream echoed through the area, and Sokka rolled down a nearby hill as graceful as a armadillobear in a tutu did ballet, and he landed next to them, and looked up slowly, mud dripping off his tan face,

**"Glad I found you guys. Good to see you were looking so hard for me too."** He said, sarcastically, Masami rolling her eyes, splashing mud in his direction as Aang giggled lightly.

XOXO

Kali lay there, staring at the ceiling, wondering why in the world the sun had to take so long in rising. She hadn't been able to go back to sleep since she HADN'T heard Uncle say anything and Zuko and she had gotten back into the bed. She figured Zuko had been telling the truth about sleeping. He was a pretty bad liar for the most part from what she could tell. She knew she'd been telling the truth. There wasn't really anything between them, was there? Most of the time, when they talked, all they did was insult each other and argue. They'd had a couple brief moments of understanding but for the most part, they seemed to maintain a constant disdain for each other. Zuko openly displayed his complete disregard for her feelings by calling her 'peasant' and 'stray' and ignoring her advice a lot. She constantly undermined his actions when she disagreed with them and disregarded the fact that, despite being banished and a refugee, he was still technically a prince. She treated him the same as she would treat any other creep she was stuck with. She forced herself to examine her past actions and thoughts a bit more closely. Well, she had jumped into the raging sea (one of her greatest fears) to save him. And that had been before they'd ever had any decent moment of understanding really. She'd just acted on instinct to save him from drowning. She would have done that if it'd been someone else, right? She thought so. She'd been much closer to his crew and uncle than she'd ever been to him. She'd followed him at the North Pole because Uncle had asked her to, right? She'd promised to take care of him and she'd done what she had to in order to keep that promise. Still…she'd gone to great lengths. She told herself that was silly then decided to do the simple test that she felt had always worked for her. It seemed like a pretty good way to figure out whether or not you were truly attracted to someone. She tried to imagine herself and Zuko kissing. She found relief and comfort in the fact that the image caused her to shudder in disgust and revulsion. She felt better after that test had been completed. The last thing she needed was to fall for a foolish banished fire prince who's only concern was himself.

She caught a glimpse of just the slightest amount of light starting to peek through the window. The sun was beginning to rise. Thank the Spirits! She rose stiffly and left the room quietly to go take a shower before they had breakfast and set off again.

XOXO

As the group looked up, it appeared day had broken, and it was revealed to them that they had lead to the middle of the swamp. Masami stood slowly, her cloths covered in filth. She felt Aang close, and they looked around, nervously,

**"It's the heart of the swamp, it's been calling us here, I knew it."**

**"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone! For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here."** Just then, a large monster, covered constructed of what appeared to be vines and other tree debris emerged from the water. Masami latched onto Aang for a second or third time since they'd been down there, and Sokka hugged her, all of them screaming louder then most though humanly possible. The first one the creature swung at was Aang, sending the group scattering. The monster was able to snag Sokka, but Aang quickly freed him with a blast of air, but the monster soon regenerated its lost vines, and grabbed Sokka again.

Masami froze water beneath her, and she skated towards the monster, sending a whip through it's shoulder in attempts to free Sokka, who fell with another shout. She began creating wave after wave against the beast, knocking him back some, but also knocking Sokka back into range, and he was quickly snatched again. Masami created a wall between her and the monster, running on dry land, only to be knocked back with a startled scream. She sailed passed Aang who also was knocked back, and they looked terrified as Sokka was being sucked in by the monster. As the pair was nearly losing Sokka, they began to work together with a combination of air bending to move the vines and water to snap through them, they were able to free Sokka once more,

**"There's someone in there controlling the vines!" **Sokka said as he fell. Masami narrowed her eyes, blowing icy shards at the monster. She began to shred the outer shell of the vines, and as soon as she had, Aang delivered the final blow with a large blast of air, revealing a nearly naked fat man. Aang approached him as he made his way out of the vined mess.

**"Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?" **Aang cried angrily.

**"Wait! I didn't call you here."** The fat man insisted.

**"We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land."** Aang explained, trying to calm down. Masami touched his back, and he released a breath.

**"He's the Avatar. Stuff like that happens to us – a lot."** Sokka admonished, hanging his head.

**"The Avatar! Come with me.** " Exclaimed the fat man, toddling off. Masami followed, but tried not to look at him.

XOXO

It wasn't a very big shower and there was no lock but no one else seemed to be up at this hour. At least, she hoped not and if they were, she hoped they weren't looking to use the shower.

Kali pulled the drawstring, sending water rushing from the faucet down onto her. It was warm and it felt good. She had a feeling she wouldn't get the chance for such a nice shower again in a while. She took her time, scrubbing herself slowly as her mind preoccupied itself with various thoughts. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to help wash any dust out. She hadn't actually gotten to wash in a few days, as they hadn't been near any rivers or streams. She sighed, resigned herself to the fact that she should probably turn off the water now to conserve it for others who would need it. She had just done so and stepped out of the shower when the bathroom door opened and Zuko stepped in.

They stared at each other and she yelped. **"AAAAHH! GET OOOUUUTTTT!!!"**

His eyes took her in quickly as she grabbed a towel. He cringed, blushed for the first time since Kali had known him, and stumbled backwards, falling over as he went through the door. She went to slam it. Her towel got caught on something and started to jerk off of her. Instinctively she grabbed it and looked up to see Uncle standing in the doorway across the hall from them.

**"Oh!"** he said, startled, as Zuko scrambled backwards toward him, still blushing. Kali furiously slammed the door, blushing heavily. She hastily dried off and put her clothes on, then sat in the bathroom, knowing she'd have a great deal of trouble looking either of them in the eye after this. Stupid Zuko, she thought. Next time, he needs to knock!

XOXO

**"Who are you?"** Masami asked, as the group had climbed into a tree, and sat with the man who had been controlling the monster before.

**"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it. Like this fellow with his big knife."** He said, motioning towards Sokka.

**"See? Completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it.**" Sooka reasoned with his friends.

**"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right. It's sacred."** The fat man stated.

**"I reached enlightenment right here under the banion grove tree. I hear it callin' me, just like you did."** He explained to them,

**"Sure ya did. It seems real chatty."** Sokka chirped.

**"See this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles...branches, spread and sink and take root and then spread some more – one big living organism, just like the entire world."** He continued, motioning over the swamp.

**"I get how the tree is one big thing, but, the whole world!"** Aang declared happily.

**"Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree? If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree."** The fat man said wisely.

**"This is a cruel place despite all that. The visions it draws to you, aren't kin to the people who once were."** She said, down casting her eyes.

**"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved…folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to'em. Time is an illusion and so is death."** He said, wisely yet again,

**"But what about my vision? It was someone I had never met."** Aang reasoned.

**"You're the Avatar. You tell me."** The man answered, Masami didn't like that answer, but said nothing.

"**Time is an illusion… so, it's…someone I will meet?"** Aang asked, cocking his head to the side.

**"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to Appa and Momo."** Sokka pointed out. Aang knelt,

**"I think I know how to find them. Everything is connected."** He said, placing his hand to a branch, the tattoo on is arm springing to life and glowing.

**"Come on! We've got to hurry!"** He cried, jumping up. They ran to see some men in a boat, holding captive Appa.

**"Appa!"** Aang screamed as he destroyed the boats, one of the men dropping a bag that Momo flew out of.

**"We're under attack!"** One of them screamed, Masami joining Aang in enough time to help him bend the wave the men created away from them.

**"Are you water benders?"** She asked, one smiled,

**"You too? That means we're kin!"** He called. Her face fell, and hse dropped the water, and looked as the ment spoke to the other who'd joined them,

**"Hey Hue! How you been?" **

**"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual."** Hue explained. The animals were freed, and camp was made, the men joining them for dinner. Masami declined invitation to eat with them, instead she crawled away from the rest of the group, resting in the soft hair of Appa's tail as he rested. She'd seen Aang sleep here, and now she knew why. The Sky Bison was an incredible creature. As she laid alone, mulling over her thoughts in silence, someone startled her, snapping a twig under foot. She glanced back to see Aang standing behind her,

**"I didn't wake you, did I?"** He asked concerned, she smiled, shaking her head,

**"No no, you didn't wake me."** She answered, leaning up as he came closer to her. He knelt beside her, eventually laying down beside her.

"**What happened earlier?"** He asked, extending an arm over her shoulders. Masami nestled into his neck, and she spoke slowly,

**"When we all got separated, I saw my Mother..and she told me I was supposed do die with her and Dad. Told me I'd left them, it was so real. She called me "Sami-chii", no one knew that name but her."** Tears fell down her cheeks, and she turned herself more into Aang's neck, and he put his other arm over her, pulling her close, shushing her lightly,

**"I don't understand it either, but I'm sure she doesn't feel that way."** He didn't really know what to tell her. She nodded sadly, sniffling,

**"I really am sorry for snapping at you like I did. I had no right."** She said, looking up at him. He smiled, shaking his head,

**"It's alright, I forgive you."** He said with a teasing laugh, rubbing their noses together, getting a smile from her as well.

**"I'm glad to hear that."** She said, leaning back down onto Appa's tail. Aang leaned over her and he connected their lips, this time running his tongue along her lip, asking for entrance. She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He leaned over her more, holding her closer. The moment was broken when Sokka rounded the side of Appa, looking for them,

**"Hey Aang-Oh! Whoops. Geez, do you two ever just oh I dunno, act your ages!?"** He whined, Masami rolled her eyes, breaking the least amount of contact with Aang's lips as she could,

**"No, now please go away."**

XOXO

Kali avoided their eyes as she joined them packing in their room. This inn didn't serve breakfast like Haruka's so they decided to move on and eat on the road. They mounted Zolo silently, who seemed to have gotten a much better night's rest than Kali or Zuko had and started off with Zuko at the reins. As usual, Uncle rode in between them and Kali had to hold to him from behind to make sure she didn't fall off Zolo. Uncle passed them their breakfast as they rode along and Kali was forced to steady herself on the ostrich-horse by tightening her hold on him with his legs while she let go of Uncle to eat. After a little while, Zuko broke the silence.

**"I'm...sorry about earlier...I didn't know you were in there."** Kali scowled.

**"Do me a favor...next time, knock."** Silence fell on them again until Uncle broke it, speaking cheerily.

**"Well, I certainly slept well last night. What about you too?"** He flashed both of them a big smile.

Neither of them said anything, both of them sensing each other's discomfort. Finally, Kali answered.

**"Well...I've had better nights."  
**

"**Yeah, me too,"** added Zuko.

Both of them avoided saying anything about Uncle's little outburst. He frowned.

**"I didn't snore too loudly, I hope?"  
**

**"Err, no, it wasn't the snoring...it was just that the bed was kind of uncomfortable. That's all."**

**"I see. Well, that's unfortunate. You two must be very tired then."** He seemed disappointed. As Kali lifted the water skin to her mouth, Zolo stumbled. Caught off guard and unable to grip him well enough with her legs, she slipped right off him and fell backwards onto the ground, water splooshing all over her face. She sighed.  
**"Great."**

Zuko stopped the ostrich-horse and they looked back at her. She got up and clambered back onto Zolo.

**"I have a feeling this just isn't my lucky day."** And on that cheerful note, they restarted their journey, noting that they'd have to refill their water skin a bit sooner than originally anticipated.

XOXO

As always, thanks for reading and those who review and favorite our story.


	9. What are you doing in my mouth?

The morning started out lazily and quietly. Masami and Aang slept curled together under a large blanket, and Sokka slept a few feet away. Masami opened her eyes, looking over Aang's head at Sokka as he spoke, rather put out at something Momo did.

**"What are you doing in my mouth?!"** He cried, Momo simple ate some bugs off of Sokka he had placed there.

**"Momo, you need to be a little more sensitive to my boundaries."** Sokka scolded. Momo looked up, and made a b-line for Sokka's face, chittering loudly. Aang slowly woke up, and looked passed Masami's shoulder, beyond Appa. His eyes bugged in terror, and all the group could hear was the thundering of something large. Masami struggled to sit up, and she gasped as a large rhino appeared behind them, then another, and others were soon surrounding them.

**"Give up! You're completely surrounded!"** Cried the man who appeared to be charge. Sokka crawled away just in time as some arrows from an archer whizzed past him, and he scrambled to his feet. Masami slowly was able to pull herself up, and the group made for Appa as fast as they could.

**"Come on, come on, come on!"** Sokka cried, urging Masami faster. She stopped, and turned.

**"My scrolls!"** She cried, referring to the scrolls given to her and Aang by Pakku. As she stood, she could hear Aang behind her, from atop Appa,

**"My staff!"** She looked up in time to see him air bend himself above her, and land near her as they both made a mad dash towards the stump. She sent a jet of water towards a soldier near the place their possessions sat. Her whip connected with his hand fiercely, and he withdrew his hand with a hiss. Masami was able to grab her scrolls and run towards Appa. She looked back over her shoulder as she ran, and nearly screamed as a tree virtually crushed Aang, but he was able to get over it. She winced again as something that looked to be an explosive was dropped near him, though he swatted it away towards the tree line. She couldn't stand around anymore, and ran off towards Appa, Aang right behind her.

**"Yip, yip!"** Aang cried as they flew out from between the rhino group. The angry soldier sent a fireball in Appa's direction, nearly taking out Masami's face. She ducked, along with the others in the saddle

**"Ahhh!"** Masami and Sokka screamed, ducking, Sokka then looked back down there, reaching out of the saddle,

**"Wait, my boomerang!"** Sokka cried.

**"We can't go back!"** Masami cried, pulling him back,

**"Oh, I see. There's time to get your scrolls and time to get your staff, but no time for my boomerang?"** He asked pointedly. She nodded sadly,

**"I'm sorry Sokka."** She said, crossing her legs, he shrugged sadly, and looked back towards the sky.

XOXO

They had decided to camp out in a cave not too far from a village for a couple of days while they waited to hear more of the Avatar. In the mean time, Kali was hearing way too much of the Blue Spirit. He'd been committing crimes a bit more frequently of late, stealing people's food and gold. Suddenly, Zuko seemed to be able to bring lots of good stuff back to them whenever he made trips to the market "looking for a job" or "just to see what news there was about the Avatar." He even brought Uncle a beautiful, expensive looking tea pot and tea cups to go with it. Kali knew Uncle must know what was happening. Neither of them seemed to know how to approach it with Zuko though. Kali had finally decided to take his mask away to see if that would help when Uncle decided to try to talk to him.

**"Looks like you did some serious shopping...but where did you get the money?"  
**  
**"Do you like your new teapot?"** Zuko asked, avoiding the question.  
**  
"To be honest with you, the best tea tastes delicious whether it comes in a porcelain pot or a tin cup."  
**  
**"I know we've had some difficult times lately. We've had to struggle just to get by," he said quietly, "But it's nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honor in poverty."**

Kali frowned. It wasn't really that simple. Certainly, living in poverty could have a simple honor to it if you lived honestly. But often enough, poverty brought out the worst in people, as it had begun doing so to Zuko (not that he hadn't already done bad things without it, but still...). As was typical of Zuko, he tried to turn things around back to his usual goal.

**"There's no honor for me without the Avatar."**

Kali forced herself to keep her mouth shut and let Uncle handle this.

**"Zuko...even if you did capture the Avatar, I'm not so sure it would solve our problems. Not now."  
**  
Zuko looked away.

**"Then there is no hope at all,"** he said dejectedly.

He started to get up but Uncle quickly restrained him.

**"No, Zuko! You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength."**

Kali had always known Uncle was a wise man. Such a statement reinforced this and rang true with her. He was right and she didn't doubt Zuko was in need of hope. He had always seemed to keep his own fire going, so to speak, but lately it had been fading. His usual dogged attitude towards capturing the Avatar hadn't had its usual edge. His inner strength was fading. Zuko got up and slowly walked out of the cave.

XOXO

The group landed in a village that seemed almost familiar to Masami. She wasn't sure why, but from the looks of it, it was almost like home. Since their supplies had been lost in the raid that morning, they had to get some, so as Masami bought some vegetables she heard Aang and Sokka talking,

"**Sorry about your boomerang, Sokka."** Aang stated sadly, pulling his hat down to cover his tattoo. They felt no need to expose who they were at this moment in time.

**"I feel like I've lost part of my identity. Imagine if you lost your arrow, or if Masami lost her anger problems."** Sokka said despondently, sighing. Masami moved back towards the group, and she patted Sokka's shoulder.

**"Here's your produce, ponytail guy."** The vender said, handing a basket over to Sokka.

" **I used to be boomerang guy…"** He said, walking off with his head down as Masami paid for the food.

"**Have a nice Avatar Day!"** The man said, waving them off. Masami looked back for a second, and looked back towards her companions as Aang perked up,

**"Avatar Day?"** He asked curiously.

"**You guys are going to the festival, right?"** Asked the Vender. They smiled and nodded, well, all but Sokka did. They left the food in Appa's saddle for storage and moved back towards the city, music played from the walls and banners flew everywhere. Masami looked up, and smiled as some kids past her running towards an open area where a group was gathered. Sokka carried Momo while Aang and Masami held hands moving around the crowded city,

_**"**_**There's a holiday for the Avatar. Who knew?"** Aang said, as they watched a float approach, Masami smiled,

"**Kyoshi float."** She spoke almost childishly looking up at the float. She'd always admired Kyoshi, being raised on Kyoshi island had helped that adoration and regard for the powerful warrior.

**"And here comes Avatar Roku."** Sokka added, pointing lightly,

**"Having a huge festival in your honor is great, but frankly, it's just nice to be appreciated."** Aang said happily, squeezing Masami's hand. She smiled,

**"And it's nice to appreciate their deep-fried festival food. "** Sokka spoke happily. Masami rolled her eyes,

_**"**_**Aang, look!"** Sokka said, through chewing some cake, he pointed at the next float, which was one of himself.

_**"**_**That's the biggest me I've ever seen."** Aang said with a smile. Masami giggled, and they watched a man run through with a flame.

**"Now a torch; that's a nice prop. It's bright, dangerous…smells manly. But I'm not sure I could carry it off."** Sokka declared, mostly to himself,

**"What's going on?" **Masami asked as the young torch bearer light the Kyoshi float on fire, then with a yell, moved onto the Roku float. Masami's face twisted in anger, and her hand clutched Aang's tighter,

**"Down with the Avatar! Down with the Avatar! Down with the Avatar!"** Screamed the crowd. By this point, Masami knew this town was no where she wanted to be.

XOXO

It was dark and Zuko still hadn't returned. Uncle and Kali exchanged worried looks at Kali stated the obvious.

**"It's been a while since he left."**

"Yeah," said Uncle uneasily.

**"I think I'm gonna go look for him,"** she said, getting up, **"I'll be back soon."**

He nodded and watched her with worried eyes as she left to find Zuko.

First, she checked to see if his mask was still in its usual hiding spot. It was, so he wasn't out stealing from people presumably. She searched the immediate area around the cave. No sign of him. She decided to check the town then. As she tried to stroll casually and keep her worry to a minimum level, she caught sight of a series of wanted posters. Sprawled right in the middle of all the others (among which was a poster of the Blue Spirit) was a poster of Zuko and Iroh before they'd cut their hair. They'd been in and out of this town a few times now. Suddenly, Kali had a sneaking suspicion she knew where Zuko was. She was surprised really to think that anyone could have captured him, especially in this normal little town but she needed to know for sure what had happened. She made her way swiftly toward where she thought the jail was. She frowned as she stopped across the street from it, trying to stay subtle while figuring out how to check the jail without arousing suspicion. At least it was night. She had that in her favor. She was still trying to decided how to go about it when she noticed a jail guard having a conversation with a pretty young lady not too far from her. She homed in on their conversation and decided suddenly to peruse some cantaloupes not too far from where they were. As she tried to decide which cantaloupes were the best, she listened closely for any sign of Zuko. It didn't take long.

**"Yep, he was a pretty tough one to bring in," **bragged the young guard to the girl, **"But we caught him off guard in that little alleyway back there. Lucky we did too, otherwise he might have gotten a chance to firebend. Last thing we need is a rampaging firebender on the loose here, especially since we already have to deal with that Blue Spirit chump terrorizin' people. We're gonna send out some people to search for the other one tomorrow morning. We figure he can't be far since the wanted poster makes it sound like they're a pair what looks out for each other."  
**  
Kali thought that was an overstatement. More like one of them looks out for the other while he gets into trouble. She'd heard all she needed to hear. She paid for a few of the cantaloupes, then calmly strolled out of the town and ran back to the cave where Uncle was. They had a problem.

XOXO

"**Down with the Avatar! Down with the Avatar!"** The crowd continued to shoat. Masami's hands began to shake with rage when they set the Aang float on fire. She let go of Aang's hand, and ran straight through the crowd.

"**Masami!" **Aang called after her, but it was to no avail. She spied water in containers near, and she moved the water ahead of her with her bending, and she stopped the fire from spreading anymore. She looked as someone spoke, pointing towards her,

**"Hey! That party-pooper's ruining Avatar Day!"** He cried, she narrowed her eyes,

"**I'll show you who's a party pooper!"** She growled, whipping water at him, turning it into ice as he slipped on it and fell. She looked to see who'd challenger her next, and she stopped as she heard a voice behind her.

**"That party-pooper's my girlfriend!"** He said, removing his hat, tossing it angrily to the side, with a blush spreading across his pale cheeks over the word "girlfriend."

_**"**_**It's the Avatar himself!"** cried the weasely man who had started all of this.

**"It's going to kill us with its awesome Avatar powers!"** A rather hysterical man cried, throwing himself into a crowd,

**"No, I'm not, I…!"** Aang calmly tried to explain.

**"I suggest you leave. You're not welcome here, Avatar."** Spoke the weasel again. Masami narrowed her eyes,

"**Like hell he isn't! What is wrong with you all?! He helps people." ** She shouted, approaching the man. She was held back when Aang landed next to her.

"**It's true. I'm on your side."** Aang reinforced.

**"****I find that hard to swallow considering what you did to us in your past life. It was Avatar Kyoshi; she murdered our glorious leader, Chin the Great."** The man said with his nose high.

"**You think that I… murdered someone... "** Aang said, stunned. All looked at a hideous old man before them,

_**"**_**We used to be a great society before you killed our leader. **_**Now**_** look at us!"** The old man cried, pointing to himself.

**"Huh!"** Aang squeaked. Masami narrowed her eyes further

"**This is insane. Avatars do not kill unjustly, so if **_**Chin**_** was anything like the rest of you, I'm sure he wasn't worth saving. Aang's honor is being unfairly questioned, and I won't stand for it."** Masami snapped irately. A man laughed,

"**Let's tell her what we think of the Avatar's "honor."** He screamed, waving his backside at her rudely, blowing a raspberry. Masami started to lash out at him, when Aang spoke,

**"Give me a chance to clear my name."** Aang begged,

**"The only way to prove your innocence is to stand trial."** The Weasel said.

**  
****"I'll gladly stand trial."** Aang said happily. Masami didn't like the sounds of this, but the decision was his.

"**You'll have to follow all our rules. That includes paying bail."**

_**"**_**No problem!"** Aang said, which seemed to be famous last words. Soon enough, their money wasn't enough, and he was in a cell. Masami leaned against the cell, Sokka held Momo, and Aang stood in stocks behind the bars.

_**"**_**How was I supposed to know it'd cost that much? "** Aang said morosely.

XOXO

**"Uncle, Zuko's been captured!"**

**"What?!"** cried Uncle, nearly dropping his tea cup (but not quite).

**"There are wanted posters for you two in town. I don't know why Zuko and I didn't spot them before. I overheard a jail guard talking about how he and a bunch of others had ambushed him and jailed him and how they were planning to search for you tomorrow morning. We've got to bust Zuko out and get out of here."  
**  
**"But how? Is the jail well guarded?"  
**  
Kali thought about it. It wasn't the biggest town but it must have seen a lot of problematic characters in its time because it had a rather large jail and it was certainly well-guarded. She wondered why that was.  
**  
"Yes sir. It was."  
**  
She looked at Uncle's troubled face_. I don't want him to get captured too_, she thought, though she knew very well he was a very talented firebender, just from what little she'd seen at the North Pole. All the same, she also knew he didn't like violence. For a retired war general, he'd certainly mellowed out a lot. She frowned. She certainly didn't want her face added to that wanted poster. That'd only make things worse for them. Then suddenly a thought crossed her mind. The Blue Spirit. He was already wanted and he could commit the necessary crimes to free Zuko. The only side he'd ever been on was his own. She looked back at Uncle, who seemed to have recognized in her eyes a change in thought.

**"You have a plan?"**

**"Yes. You stay here, sir, and stay hidden."**

He smiled at her.

**"Please Kali. You don't need to call me 'sir' any longer. You're always welcome to simply refer to me as 'Uncle' now."  
**  
**"Or Mushi if you like,"** he gave her a silly grin and winked.

She paused at the cave entrance.

**"I...thank you,"** she gave him a little bow and was startled when he rushed forth and hugged her.

**"Don't get captured, whatever you're doing,"** he released her and smiled again**, "I don't want to have to rescue you both."  
**  
She nodded and smiled back at him.

**"I won't. We'll be back soon."**

XOXO

Masami had her fingers laced with Aang's through the bars, and she was worried. She didn't like the idea of trial, and they had nothing to go on, this "crime" had happened centuries ago, and nothing seemed to want to change these people's minds.

**"So some people don't like you. Big deal! There's a whole nation of firebenders who hate you. Now let's bust you out of here."** Sokka exclaimed.

"**I can't." **Aang said, putting his head down.

**"Sure you can! A little… swish, swish, swish! Airbending slice! … and we're on our way."** Sokka elaborated.

**"I think he means we need to go because the world needs you more then these people need to be proven wrong." ** Masami said quietly, leaning her head against the bars separating her from Aang.

"**I can't do that with people thinking I'm a murderer, either. I need you guys to help prove my innocence.** " Aang begged, holding her hand tighter.

**"How're we gonna do that? The crime happened over three hundred years ago."** Sokka griped,

**"That's okay, Sokka. For some reason, I thought you were an expert detective."** Aang said shrewdly.

**"Well, I guess I **_**could**_** be classified as such."** Sokka declared passionately. Masami rolled her eyes, but whatever got Aang out of here faster.

**"Whatever gets Aang out of here the fastest." **Masami said, as Sokka began a tirade about something from back home,

**"****This one time back home, all the seal jerky began to disappear and everyone wanted to blame it on a polar leopard but I figured out that it was Old Man Jarco wearing polar leopard boots. See, a real eight hundred pound polar leopard would have left much deeper tracks. Okay, I guess I am **_**pretty**_** good."** Sokka finished with a flourish. Amidst his ramblings, Aang had made silly gestures behind Sokka's back, earning a giggle from Masami but Sokka didn't seem to notice.

**"So you'll help me with my case?"** Aang asked hopefully. If he didn't comply, Masami would use force, but she didn't have to,

**"Fine. But I'm gonna need some new props."** Sokka said, moving off to look for his "props." Masami was slow to follow,

"**We'll figure this out, okay?"** She said, linking her other hand with his through the bars. She was thankful her hands were very small, as were his, so he could slip out of the stocks that attempted to bind him.

"**Alright."** He said with a smile. She leaned her face against the bars,

"**Why couldn't it have been Sokka's past life we had to prove innocent? I don't know that I can deal with him for more then a few minutes."** She said with a small smile. Aang leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers as best he could through the bars.

"**Do it for me."** He said with a smile, and something to his voice she hadn't heard before but it made her shiver a bit, and she nodded to the command.

"**Only for you."** She said, letting go finally, moving after Sokka, who couldn't have gotten that far.

XOXO

The Blue Spirit moved swiftly and silently toward the town. As she reached the outskirts, her movements became more furtive and stealthy as she carefully scaled a rooftop. Kali had changed into Zuko's entire Blue Spirit outfit, even though her normal clothes would have worked just as well as far as being a ninja went. She wanted to leave no doubt however that she was the same person who'd been stealing from the village and had crossed the Fire Nation once before. She didn't want anyone to connect the Blue Spirit to her through the clothes either. Thus, the Blue Spirit wore the customary dark brown outfit (lucky they were about the same height) and, of course, the mask. Kali had to admit, as far as masks went, Zuko had good taste to have picked this one out. It was a very cool-looking mask and certainly fit its purpose well. She smirked, thinking of the silly alternatives he could have picked.

She quietly and quickly leapt from rooftop to rooftop, making sure to keep out of sight whenever she spotted any passersby in the street. Soon she had reached the prison, where there were three guards standing outside. She cautiously moved around to look at the prison from all angles, looking for any other possible entrance. Fortunately she found one in a small ventilation shaft in the rear of the prison on the roof. Unfortunately, the roof was sharply slanted and too far away for her jump to. She couldn't even be sure she'd fit through the shaft really. She turned her thoughts back to the front door. Maybe...if she caused a distraction. She furrowed her brow and took in the rest of her immediate surroundings. They were in the center of town. Lots of shops, some traveling merchants' carts, and...an ostrich-horse pen! That seemed to be her best bet. She slunk down of the roof and hurried over to the pen. She needed to start a stampede of ostrich horses and she needed it to head straight for the prison. She carefully unlatched the gate, making sure no one was around and quietly walked towards the ostrich-horses. They acknowledged her a bit uneasily but otherwise remained silent. She frowned. She either needed something to by the prison that they really wanted or something they didn't like in the pen that would send them towards the prison. In the end, though she hated to be the cause of so much trouble, she opted for the cantaloupes.

XOXO

Masami walked slowly after Sokka, she saw him entered a building and she was taken aback when she got in there. He turned back towards her,

"**I'm ready."** He said with a grin. She raised her eyebrows, on his head he wore a hat with a set of gadgets hanging off of it, including a magnifying glass. She giggled lightly as he played with the settings.

"**What?"** He asked, looking at her, bending his back lightly. His eye looked huge through the other side of the glass and she giggled more. She had to admit, as much as he irked her at times, Sokka was a good guy. She knew she'd been a bit harsh in her thoughts of him earlier, but she knew he would never turn his back on Aang, or her. And she would return the favor for him.

"**Nothing. You look…very professional?"** She said, stifling another giggle. As they moved towards the "crime seen" the weasel met them there.

"**This is the crime scene. This is the footprint of the killer, Kyoshi. It was at sunset three hundred and seventy years ago today that she emerged from the temple and struck down Chin the Great. After that tragic day, we built this statue to immortalize our great leader. Feel free to appreciate it."** He said, pointing to a statue made of an ugly colored marble, of an even uglier man. She crossed her arms, and turned her head away form him as he made off towards town. She looked back to see Sokka hovering of the footprint at the end of the cliff.

"**This temple and this statue were cut from the same stone. And we know that the statue was built after Chin died."** Sokka said, looking back and forth from the statue to the temple Kyoshi supposedly came out of.

**"So…then Kyoshi…-" **She started, but was cut off.

**" Shhh! I wanna solve it! That means Kyoshi never set foot in this temple."** Sokka jumped in, making her roll her eyes, but he was right none the less.

**"That's a rabbit trial the mayor never mentioned." **She said, crossing her arms.

**"You're right. So you know what that means!"** He said, producing a pipe. Her eyes bugged,

_**"**_**We need to go to Kyoshi Island!"** He declared, blowing a few bubbles, Masami didn't like this idea, but she knew they had to…but even more so she wondered something else,

**"Where'd you get that?"** She asked as they moved back towards Appa to fly to the nearby island.

XOXO

The moon shone brightly over the town and one of the guards admired it.

**"Boy, the moon sure is looking big and bright tonight!"**

His compatriots nodded, then one man sniffed the air.

**"Anybody else thinks it smells a lot like cantaloupe here suddenly?"**

The others didn't have time to answer before suddenly a stampede of ostrich-horses flooded the street directly headed for them. They shouted and scattered out of the way as the large animals raced past the prison, apparently set off by a fire in their pen but now more focused on cantaloupes more than anything else. An unattended cantaloupe stand had been left directly behind where the guards had been standing and some of the fruit had even been sliced open so that the smell of the cantaloupes permeated the air. As the guards frantically tried to restrain the feasting animals and shouted for the merchant who owned the cabbages and the man who owned the ostrich-horses, they failed to notice that one of the ostrich-horses had been carrying a passenger clinging to its side until it'd reached the jail. The Blue Spirit ducked out of sight as five of the guards who'd been inside ran past her to see what the commotion was about, then hastily picked a hallway (the prison was big enough that it had three long hallways of prison cells on the first floor) and rushed down it. The prisoners all looked at her with startled, sleepy faces as she sprinted past, knowing those guards would be back soon. Not finding the man she was looking for, she turned and ran down another hallway, again with no luck. The third hallway provided no help either and she was forced to aim for the stairs. As she began to do so, however, a couple of the guards came back inside, apparently seeking some water to help put out the fire in the ostrich pen. Instinctively, she propelled herself towards the ceiling of the hallway she was in and crouched between the two walls, holding herself up by firmly pressing against both walls. She was thankful she'd gotten mixed up with that traveling circus briefly as a child. Getting lost while trying to travel to her father's village had certainly had its benefits as it turned out. She definitely needed to get a bit stronger though, she decided, feeling her muscles burn a bit as the men took their time filling buckets with water before running back outside. With a thankful sigh, she dropped down then ran up the stairs as quietly as she could, knowing there was a good chance there were guards up there still. She wasn't disappointed.

All the guards who had been downstairs had left to see about the disturbance but none of the guards upstairs had. There had been five downstairs, not counting the guards outside. There were eight up here. She hadn't been kidding about the place being well guarded for such a relatively small place. She backed down the staircase for a second to make the decision of what to do. She was pretty sure she'd have a hard time making it through without being noticed. She cautiously peered over the last stair, assessing her options. She saw now where the vent led and decided it was probably just as well she'd gone with the distraction. There were little well-lit lamps placed all throughout the prison. She tried to get a better look into some of the prison cells, searching for Zuko. It'd help if she knew which hallway she needed to go down. She heard the noises of the men outside and knew she couldn't afford to waste time any longer. She made a quick mental note of where all the men upstairs were currently located, then she made her move.

XOXO

Masami was on edge most of the trip to Kyoshi Island. She hadn't been home in quiet a while. As the island neared in view, she zoned out for a bit,

A child Masami ran down the beach, far enough that the tide couldn't touch her, but close enough she could feel the wet sand beneath her bare feet.

"_**Come on Kali!"**__ She yelled behind her to her sister. Younger then she was by a few months, Kali already surpassed her greatly in height. Always together, she and Kali. One was the shadow of the other, and the entire island knew this. Masami ran up from the beach, Kali in tow, and they chased each other at the large feet of the statue of Kyoshi. _

"_**I'd love to meet the Avatar one day." **__Masami said, staring up at the statue._

"_**Who knows where or who it even is now…since the last one just vanished."**__ Kali said, slowing her pace next to her sister as she stopped running._

"_**I wanna find them! I bet they're as cool as Kyoshi…or almost anyhow!"**__ Both girls giggled, and ran through town back towards their Grandfather's house, it was nearly dark._

Masami smiled lightly at the memory. Always raised with reverence for the Avatar, she knew of the good Avatars did for the world, and she knew Kyoshi, nor any other Avatar would destroy someone without cause. She blinked as they began to land, in front of the very statue she'd presently thought of. She climbed out of the saddle to see a bunch of screaming girls, and one boy she'd gone to school with, rabidly foaming at the mouth and dropping to the around with a happy shriek. Chin-Chin had always been a character….

**"Where's Aangy?"** One little girl demanded, Masami's eyebrows rose, drawing in slightly. She knew the little girl as Koko, and she didn't like the tone she used in regards to Aang.

"**He couldn't be here, Koko."** Sokka said mildly, tossing a look her direction. The crowd let out a mildly disappointed "Oh." And started to disperse. She was thankful for it.

**"I wanted to see Aangy…"** Koko stated again, crossing her arms,

"**Go back to your Mom and sisters Koko, we have issues to be dealing with here."** Masami snapped, getting everyone's attention.

"**Masami!? What're you doing here?!"** She asked, Masami started to speak, when someone else approached the group.

_**"**_**Oyagi! Aang is in jail. The town of Chin says he murdered their leader in a past life.**__**They say it was Kyoshi."** Sokka cried. Masami nodded, crossing her arms.

**"Kyoshi? That's crazy talk! I'll take you to her shrine. Maybe something there will help you clear her name." **He bustled, moving them towards the Shrine in the farther part of the village.

**"So, uh… what's Suki up to? Is she around?"** Sokka asked. Masami looked towards him, and cocked her head to the side.

"**You know Suki?"** She asked curiously.

"**Yeah, do you?"** Sokka asked just as curiously. She nodded,

"**I'm…from Kyoshi Island. After the flood took out my village, Kali and I came here to live with our Grandfather."** She didn't tell the whole story, now wasn't the time.

**"Actually, she and the other warriors left to fight in the war. You kids had a big impact on Suki. She said you inspired her and she wanted to help change the world."** Oyagi stated, looking at them both.

"**Oh, well… that's great."** Sokka said disappointedly.

**"This temple was converted into a shrine to Kyoshi."** He informed them, as they approached a building overlooking the sea. They entered the building, and there were many artifacts belong to Kyoshi there.

**"The clerics tell us these relics are still connected to her spirit. That's her kimono."** He pointed.

"**These fans… they were her weapons, no?"** Sokka asked, trailing his fingers over them.

"**Refrain from touching the fans." ****  
**

"**These were her boots? Her feet must have been enormous!"** Sokka exclaimed. Momo came out of the boots, clicking at the others.

**" The biggest of any Avatar."** Oyagi informed them with pride. Masami and Sokka looked at each other.

**"Aha! There's no way Kyoshi could have made that footprint and therefore there is nothing linking her to the crime scene!"** Sokka exclaimed, Masami nodding with a smile.

XOXO

Everyone froze as the lights went out suddenly and the prison was pitched into darkness. There was the sound of a man's groan and a thwack followed by the thump of said man falling to the ground. The lights flickered back on long enough for the two remaining guards in the hallway to catch sight of the Blue Spirit flying at them, as if he truly were a spirit, then the flickered back off. Scuffling noises followed by more thwacks and thuds followed as the other men groped blindly in the darkness towards the sounds. Two of them fumbled with the lamps, trying to relight them, while a third ran towards the stairs to shout for help. As he reached the stairs, the Blue Spirit suddenly appeared beside him and slammed his head against the wall with a powerful kick, knocking him out. The others started for him but the Spirit disappeared back into the darkness, swords drawn. The two remaining guards who weren't trying to relight the lamps rushed the stairs and began to yell. Their yells were abruptly cut off as they were tripped then hit heavily against the head simultaneously by the hilts of the Spirit's swords. One of the remaining men finally managed to light his lamp.

**"I got it!"** he exclaimed then shrieked as it revealed the mask of the Spirit directly in front of him. The Spirit shattered the lamp, grabbing the man simultaneously and, leaning down hard, flinging him over his shoulder into the wall. The other man's lamp flickered on as the Blue Spirit checked to make sure the first was knocked out. The last remaining guard, able to see just barely now, reached for the horn used to call for help but a sword slashed through it and then he was knocked out. The lights slowly relit as the Spirit looked around at his handiwork. The frightened, startled prisoners stared at him, wondering whom it was he had come to collect. He walked briskly along each hallway until he came to the last cell to the far left. Zuko looked up from where he was shackled, his face even more shocked than the rest. The Blue Spirit?! He wasn't saving himself, that was for sure, so who the hell was this?!

XOXO

The group moved to a piece of art on a wall of the temple. As Sokka looked it over, Masami wandered a bit from the group towards a bit, looking over other aspects of the shrine. There was an actual alter, and she knelt before it, bowing her head,

"**Avatar Kyoshi, please help. I seek your guidance for Aang, he can't do this alone."** She spoke softly, reverently. She slowly stood, and moved back through the doorway she'd come in from to see Sokka and Oyagi looking at the picture thoroughly.

"**This piece is called "The Birth of Kyoshi." It was painted at sunrise on the day this island was founded. Why, it was today, in fact, three hundred and seventy years ago."**He informed Sokka proudly.**  
**

"**Three hundred and seventy years… wait, are you sure it was **_**tod**_**ay?"** Sokka exclaimed, pulling Oyagi by the shirt lapels.

**"Seeing how it's Kyoshi Day, yes, I'm sure."** He said snippily, pushing Sokka away.

**"This ceremony didn't take place at sunrise; it took place at sun**_**set**_**. Look at the shadows."** Sokka pointed out,

"**They point east. So the sun must have been in the west."** He continued.

"**So what?"** Oyagi asked,

"**If Kyoshi was in the ceremony at sunset, she couldn't have been in Chin committing the crime. She has an alibi!"** Sokka cried triumphantly. They collected some materials and quickly left the island, flying back towards the town of Aang's imprisonment.

XOXO

Kali smirked under the mask at Zuko's look of bewilderment as she opened the jail door and released him from the chains binding his wrists and feet. He stared at her for a moment then slowly stood. She motioned for him to follow her and ran towards the stairs, knowing they'd have to fight their way out. They reached the bottom of the stairs in time to meet the rest of the guards returning from the mess caused by the ostrich-horses.

**"What the-?"** cried the first man as he was shoved aside by Kali.

**"It's the Spirit and that scarred guy!"** called another.

The guards hastily brandished their weapons as Kali and Zuko forced their way out, with Kali blocking and disarming people or knocking their feet out from under them while Zuko disarmed, face-planted, or hurled others into walls. Kali was glad to have him fighting with her this time. They finally made it out and ran through the town, checking to see whether the guards had recovered enough yet to follow them. Fortunately, they hadn't. They escaped from the town and were on their way into the woods when Zuko grabbed her arm and stopped abruptly.

**"Who are you?"** he asked fiercely.

**"Who do you think?" **she replied, taking off the mask. His face went from angry to shocked then back to angry.

**"Where'd you get that from?"**

"From the hollow tree you've been stashing it in. Now let's get back to your uncle so we can leave before those guards catch up with us."

His scowl deepened but he followed her as she pulled her arm away and began walking briskly.

**"How long have you known?"**

**"Since the first time the Blue Spirit was reported. Back on your ship. You were gone for a long time that day and night and when you came back, I happened to see you walk by the kitchen door. The clothes hid it pretty well but, from the angle I was looking from, I managed to see part of the mask. And I'd already noticed the swords were missing from your wall anyway and wondered why you would need them, since you could just firebend for protection...or attack, normally. So once I heard about the Blue Spirit's 'daring rescue' of Aang from Zhao, I knew it was you."**

He was silent for a long time.

**"Does my uncle know?"**

"I suspect he does but if so, he didn't hear it from me."

They reached the tree where Zuko had been keeping his costume. Kali had left her clothes there.

**"Right, now get yourself back to the cave and let Uncle know we're safe and it's time to leave. I'll join you in a moment."**

She paused.

**"I suppose you'll want me to bring your mask and clothes with me. You probably won't be needing them, you know."**

She turned to glare at him sternly, engaging him in a staring contest.

**"I need them in case I need to hide my identity again. It's worked out just fine so far."**

**"You've been stealing,"** she said flatly, **"You know it, I know it, and your uncle knows it. We all know this. It's wrong, Zuko. I know living as a refugee has been hard on you, since you're not used to this kind of life really. But your uncle was right in what he said earlier. There's more honor in being poor but still able to get by than being a thief and living well. I've been there when it comes to desperate. When I was little, I found myself alone living on the streets, traveling a lot like we are now, and, at times, I was desperate enough that I stole. Food or a warm coat, those kinds of things. And sometimes, I had no way of ever paying the people I stole from back in the least. It was the only thing I could think to do in order to survive, because I didn't really have any other good alternatives sometimes. But it's still one of my biggest regrets to this day. We have the option now to get by just fine without stealing. Don't let yourself become a petty lowlife just because you're not used to having less,"** she raised an eyebrow, "**Stick with higher standards. Stick with being a lowlife with higher goals in life, like capturing the Avatar."  
**  
He gave her the Kali scowl, then looked away, granting her the victory of the staring match.

**"I still want them back. Just in case,"** he added, then walked away briskly towards the cave.

Kali watched him go and shook her head then quickly changed.

XOXO

Upon finding out how the "just us" system worked in this town, Masami was furious to say the least. The fact that the Mayor told the crowd what happened, then Aang told his side of it, and then the MAYOR himself decided who was innocent was insane to her. Justice, pft.

Sokka told Aang everything he'd found out with Masami on Kyoshi Island, and Masami just hoped her prayers for the young Avatar weren't in vain.

"**Everyone loved Chin the Great because he was so great. Then the Avatar showed up and killed him! And that's how it happened."** The Mayor said as the trial began. Masami rolled her eyes, he gave so much detail he should be sure to slow down before he lost time people. The Bailiff released Aang from the stocks, and spoke,

**"The accused will now present its argument."** Aang looked at Masami and Sokka nervously. Masami smiled warmly, as Sokka whispered,

**"You can do it, Aang. Just remember the evidence." ****  
**

"**Right… evidence. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to tell you what really happened. And I will prove it with facts. Fact number one…Uh…"** Aang said strongly at first, but dropped off towards the end.

**"The footprints!"** Sokka prodded.

**"****Oh, yeah… You see, I have very large feet."** Aang declared. Masami smiled encouragingly.

**"****Furthermore, your… temple matches your statue. But… I was in a painting at sunset. So there you have it! I'm not guilty!**" Aang finished quickly with a cheeky smile. Masami smiled lightly, Sokka grinned, and Momo chittering calmly, Aang sweat dropped lightly,

**"He's dead**." Sokka whispered to Masami.

XOXO

They rode away into the night swiftly, keeping a sharp eye out for lamps or torches and listening for any sign of people nearby. Fortunately, they made it safely away from the town without seeing or hearing anyone. Regardless, they spent the entire night putting distance between themselves and the town. The sun was just rising when they decided to make camp not too far from the road. They hastily tethered Zolo near some grass and sprawled out on the ground, not even bothering to set out any blankets. Kali felt relieved to have escaped the town so easily and to have avoided incriminating herself. Surprisingly enough, she felt little regret over breaking into the prison and busting out a criminal. She did regret having to cause so much trouble in the process but the actual act she didn't mind so much. She supposed it was because she knew him and understood why he was being hunted. The Fire Nation was unjustly hunting him (although the fact was, he had committed criminal acts). But nonetheless, she knew his fate if he were caught by the Fire Nation would probably be much worse than a 'petty lowlife' deserved. Zuko did plenty of bad things...but, even so...in the end, she felt there might actually be some good in him. She figured Uncle's loyalty and love for him were a big part of what led her to feel this way. His story on the ship of Zuko's banishment and the events leading up to it had really moved her and, even though many things had happened since then, she still couldn't help but hope that, despite his current status as a "lowlife with higher goals", he might one day get past it and show a better side of himself. The side that had gotten him banished. If his father was blind to the goodness of Zuko's intentions that day and deaf to his pleas for mercy, he wasn't worth all this trouble and strife which was supposedly about 'honor'. If only Zuko could see this. Kali sighed inwardly and allowed herself to drift off to sleep, wondering what would happen to them next.

XOXO

In a last ditch effort, Sokka began to plead with the weasel. Masami would have sooner frozen him, threatened everyone into letting them leave and then taken off on Appa, but apparently that was wrong.

"**Mayor Tong, I'd like for the court to hear one last testimony."** Sokka pleaded.

"**I**** already told you! It's just me and the accused. You can't call any witnesses."** He berated the water tribe boy. Masami scowled,

**"This isn't just any witness. I'm going to call… Avatar Kyoshi herself!"** Sokka declared. The crowd began to mumble, and Sokka tugged Aang towards Appa, and reappeared with him, in Avatar Kyoshi's old clothes. Masami's eyebrows went up. Sokka had lost his mind…or was playing some cruel joke with Aang…

"**What are you doing?!"** She snapped lowly,

**"Well, she is Aang's past life. Maybe wearing her stuff will trigger something."** He said, shrugging.

**"I hope you're right."** She said, leaning back, crossing her arms.

**"This is a mockery of Chin law!"** The weasel yelled.

**"If you don't give him…or her I guess…a chance, I'll make a mockery of you, regardless of laws."** Masami snapped, making the man, making him back down a bit. She lowered her face, closing her eyes, _Avatar, please help him._ She asked to the sky, and those beyond it, Spirits she hoped someone could hear her.

**"****Hey, everybody**_**,**_** Avatar Kyoshi here."** Aang started uncertainly, dropping one of his fans to reveal his painted face. Masami cracked a smile at his voice, not a reassuring smile this time, a real one.

**"This is ridiculous. For the murder of Chin the Great, this court finds the Avatar…"** Tong started, before a gust of wind swirled around Aang, blocking him from view. Masami sat up swiftly, starting the lemur who'd been sitting on Sokka. The sky darkened, and the wind ceased, to reveal not Aang, but Avatar Kyoshi standing before them.

**"I killed Chin the Conqueror. A horrible tyrant, Chin was expanding his army to all corners of the continent. When they came to the neck of the peninsula where we lived, he demanded our immediate surrender. I warned him that I would not sit passively and while he took our home, but he did not back down. ****On that day, we split from the mainland. I created Kyoshi Island so my people could be safe from invaders."** Then, the cloud appeared to be gone, and the whirlwind happened again, and then Aang was back with them, though his energy wasn't as it usually was. He moaned lightly, and fell forward. Masami rushed to his side, and held him up; he dropped one of her fans as he looked towards her weakly,

**"So… what just happened?" **

**"You confessed…" **Masami said rather sadly, still holding him. She wasn't going to let him go.

"**And I find you guilty! Bring out the wheel of punishment!"** The weasel cried, Masami felt her eyes well, and she heard Momo being to make noises. Aang sagged against her, and she placed her lips to the side of his head, missing the face paint by mere inches,

"**Don't worry, we'll get out of this."** She mumbled, trying to sound strong.

XOXO

When Kali woke up it was about mid day and the sun was still high in the sky. She sat up wearily and left the others to collect some wood for a fire. They were in a shrub and grass covered area, with few trees for providing particularly good kindling. She returned to the campsite with little kindling and found Zuko awake. Silently, she lit the fire then left to find more sticks or anything else that would burn. Again, her results were minimal but when she returned, she saw that Zuko had also collected some kindling, which helped a bit. They sat by the fire, staring at it, neither of them speaking for a while. Kali thought about the events of the previous day and thought of what Uncle and she had both said to Zuko. She wondered whether it had made much difference. She had fallen asleep feeling hopeful, but now, as she reviewed their situation, she felt a bit less hopeful. Zuko was still intent on finding the Avatar and she was still intent on finding her sister. They'd have problems once they reached that point as it was but right now, the biggest problem seemed to be just finding them. The last sitting they'd heard about had been about the Avatar being spotted flying not too far north of Omashu, near an enormous swamp. She could only hope they'd hear a more firm report soon. She looked up from the fire to see Zuko staring at her. He looked away quickly then looked back at her uneasily.

**"I never thanked you for getting me out of that prison."**

There was a pause.  
**  
"Thank you. Seems like a owe a few times now for doing stuff like that."**

She nodded, then spoke, almost as uneasily as he had.

**"You're welcome."**

They looked at each other a bit longer for a moment, then looked away and Zuko stood.

**"I'm...gonna go get some more kindling."**

**"Good idea. I'll go get some too."**

They parted, scouting the area for more to burn. Soon they returned and each deposited their kindling on the nearby pile. When they sat back down, Kali realized they were sitting a bit closer than they had been before. Zuko seemed to realize the same thing, as they were practically right beside each other now, and both looked down awkwardly at the fire. After a moment, Kali thought the fire could use a bit more fuel. She started to reach down for the wood. Zuko, apparently having reached the same conclusion, did the same thing at the same time and their hands collided. Both retracted their hands immediately, as if bitten by a skunk-rattler, then glanced sideways at each other. Slowly, they turned their heads to face each other a bit more, both of them still looking exhausted. Just then, however, a faint pfffft! noise emitted from across the campfire followed by a louder sound and a sudden increase of flames on the fire's part. Kali and Zuko scooted away from the fire and each other and lifted their hands to their noses, cringing.

XOXO

"**The accused will now spin the wheel of punishment to determine his sentence."** The gruff man said nonchalantly. Masami buried her head into Aang's shoulder, he weakly wrapped an arm around her small waist, and he swallowed, turning to face her.

_**"**_**I said I would face justice, so I will."** Before he let go of her, he connected their lips for a second, as though for courage. She pulled back, noting she'd smudged his face paint, and that she must now look like a crying clown of sorts, but what did she care? As Aang spun the wheel, the crowd began to get excited,  
**  
****"Come on, torture machine!"****  
**

"**Eaten by bears!"****  
**

"**Razor pit!" **

**  
****"Community service! Please stop on community service."** Sokka said, crossing his fingers.

**"Looks like it's "boiled in oil.""** Said the Bailiff simply. Aang tensed, Masami hung her head, and only looked up when someone loud shouted,

_**"**_**We've come to claim this village for the Fire Lord! Now show me your leader so I may…dethrone him."** The man on the beast smiled wickedly. Masami wanted to smile(Schadenfreude), but this day had been too much for her already.

**"That's him over there!"** Someone screamed, pointing at Tong.

_**"**_**You! Avatar! Do something!"** Cried Tong. Masami's face looked right at the man, how dare he! But Aang held his own on this one,

**"Gee, I'd love to help, but I'm supposed to be boiled in oil."** He said, looking away. Masami actually did feel herself smirk a bit. In a panic, the weasel changed the oil peg to the community service peg.

" **There! "Community service." Now serve our community and get rid of those rhinos!" **Aang smiled, and he got straight to work. He jumped, shedding most of Kyoshi's large clothes, though he kept the fans, and used them to send on of the rhino drivers off a cliff.

**"****Rough Rhinos, to the town!"** The men then began to destroy the town. Masami and Sokka headed towards town after Aang, and Masami came face to face with a shirtless driver. She narrowed her eyes as he screamed at her, ands he swung a weapon above his head, and tossed it at her, she used water from a near by pail and sent it back, binding his wrists. He looked at her with a panicked expression as she made a water whip, and sent the rhino running.

Masami looked up as a "boom:" echoed through the village, and she saw Sokka crouched, cuddling his boomerang. She smiled,

**"Boomerang! You **_**do**_** always come back!"** She looked back in time to see another rider coming towards her. She whipped him in the face, back and forth, eventually he lost his balance, and fell backwards, his head hitting the beast's rump, sending it running.

Masami didn't know where Aang had ended up, but wherever it was, he had done what he did best, and beaten who ever was after him. That night, he'd cleaned his face, and they'd collected Kyoshi's clothes, and tucked them away in a saddle bag. Masami and Aang sat close together, Aang slowly tracing circles on Masami's hand with his small fingers. She laid her head on his shoulder, and he kissed her head, as the Weasel began to talk,

**"From now on, we'll celebrate a new Avatar Day in honor of the day Avatar Aang saved us from the Rough Rhino Invasion. ****"** He declared, as they were each handed a bowl of….something.

**"What is **_**this**_**?"** Sokka asked. In the bowl, it looked like raw cookie dough.

**"That's our new festival food: unfried dough. May we eat it and be reminded of how on this day the Avatar was **_**not**_** boiled in oil."** He declared. The trio looked at each other, and each lifted a cookie to their mouth. The cookie draped lazily over Masami's fingers. She wiggled it a bit, and spoke sarcastically,

**"****Happy Avatar Day."** She said, taking a bite. She wrinkled her nose, and she spit most of the dough out behind her, into a bush. Aang had one hanging out of his mouth, and Sokka didn't finish his before he spoke,

_**"**_**This is by far the worst town we've ever been to."** He said, finishing his cookie.

XOXO

Kali and Zuko sat by the suddenly enlarged fire, covering their noses and exchanging uncomfortable looks. Uncle rolled over, awake at last, and greeted them cheerfully.

**"Well, that was a good rest. Did you two sleep well?"**

They nodded as he sniffed the air, frowning, then looked around.

**"Has something died nearby?"**

They exchanged uncomfortable looks again. Neither really wanted to tell him he had been the cause of the unfortunately strong, pungent scent, as well as the fire's sudden increase in flames. So both just shrugged in a noncommittal way. He gave them a curious look and shrugged in response.

**"Well, I suppose we had better have something to eat before we leave. Perhaps some tea to go along with it?"**

Not too long later, they sat around the fire sipping tea and nibbling on what was left of their supply of chicken sheep. They said very little until Zuko paused in his eating.  
**  
"Uncle, while I was in prison, I thought a lot about what you said in the cave," **Uncle looked up at him, obviously pleased, **"And I thought a lot about what would have happened if...Kali hadn't busted me out of prison and we hadn't escaped. It's all made me realize something."**

Uncle smiled at him then looked back down at his food.

**"I am glad."**

Zuko continued.

**"We no longer have anything to gain by traveling together."**

Kali choked on her tea but Zuko continued without hesitation.

**"I need to find my own way,"** he finished seriously.

Uncle's face sank and his expression saddened. Kali coughed a bit, clearing the tea from her lungs, before turning on Zuko.

**"Are you serious?!"**

He looked at her, not answering. She knew very well he was always serious but this was ridiculous.

**"How could you think you have nothing to gain from all of us traveling together? I just busted you out of prison and Uncle has a ton of helpful wisdom and knowledge. Besides, he's your uppermost supporter. He's like the one person looking out for your good...not counting me, now that I'm completely mixed up in this."**

He scowled.

**"I still haven't captured the Avatar. He's my only chance to return home. Now that we're refugees, traveling together puts us all in greater danger as Uncle and I can easily be connected to each other and it slows me down too. I need to move faster so that I can catch up with the Avatar."**

She couldn't deny the certain amount of practicality and truth in his words. Zuko's capture could have led to her and Uncle's capture if she hadn't found out what had happened to him and acted. And Zolo would move faster if he was only carrying one person. Wait a minute, Zolo was hers!

**"I presume you're intending to take Zolo then, since people on ostrich-horses move faster than people on foot generally."**

He nodded, standing and picking up his pack.

**"Well, the fact is, I happen to own Zolo. Which means I get to decide who he goes with, unless of course you're intending to steal him from me."**

Her eyes narrowed and Zuko upped his scowl up to her personalized one.

**"And I say he stays here, with myself and Uncle."**

Zuko clenched his fists.

**"I need him!"**

On the one hand, she didn't want him to steal an ostrich-horse like he'd originally planned on doing. But on the other hand, Zolo belonged to her and she certainly didn't intend to just give him away.

**"Even if you could pay me for him, with honest money,"** she added, **"I still think that if anyone in this group should have the ostrich-horse, it should be Uncle. He is our elder after all and I certainly don't think it'd be right to just leave him to walk wherever he decides to go when you could give him the ostrich-horse."  
**  
She felt Uncle place a hand on her shoulder softly and looked at him.

**"It is fine, Kali. I do not mind walking. It is good for me after all,"** he smiled slightly, in an attempt to persuade her, she knew, **"Besides, I am in no hurry to travel anywhere. If my nephew desires to travel faster, you need not withhold the ostrich-horse from him on my behalf."  
**  
Kali softened but turned back to Zuko, still firm in her decision.

**"I'm not just giving you my ostrich-horse. I'm not saying your thoughts on the safety problem and speed are wrong. But there is safety in numbers also and, if you really need to travel faster, perhaps you can get a job in the next village we stop in and earn enough money to buy yourself an ostrich-horse so that we'll have two."**

He stared at her for a few minutes, then took on a look of resignation.

**"Fine. If I let you come with me, will you let me use your ostrich-horse?"**

Kali scowled again.

**"And just leave your uncle all alone?"**

Again, Uncle took Zuko's side.  
**  
"Kali, I will be fine. I'm an old man, it's true, and perhaps not in the best of shape,"** he laughed and patted his belly, **"But, as you pointed out earlier, I have plenty of knowledge on my side and, as you may have noticed when we were at the North Pole, that knowledge includes a good knowledge of fighting if necessary,"** he patted her shoulder, **"I will be alright on my own. It will be best if you two stick together to take care of each other."**

She stared down at him, knowing he could take care of himself but simultaneously fearing what would happen if he were to be caught off guard or an accident were to happen. But she knew it was his wish for her to allow his nephew to follow his wishes. She forcibly resigned herself to going along with it.

**"Alright,"** she said quietly, **"Since you both seem to feel so strongly about this, I guess I'll go along with it."  
**  
She looked up at Zuko.

**"We're leaving now then?"**

He nodded, still looking displeased by the final decision.

She walked over to get her pack, then unpacked what was left of her food supplies and set it down next to Uncle's things.

**"I'd rather you have it,"** she insisted to Uncle, who wanted to give it back, **"We'll manage alright."  
**  
She hugged him, whispered, **"Be safe,"** then joined Zuko on top of Zolo.

**"Take good care of each other!"** Uncle called after them. She looked back at his diminishing figure, telling herself she'd see him again as they rode away.

XOXO

The next town they came to seemed to be a bit calmer then the last they'd been to, thankfully. Masami stood, playing with Momo as Sokka and Aang looked at a nearby booth.

"**It's pricey, but I really do like it."** Sokka said, looking over a green bag that reminded Masami of a man purse.

_**"**_**Then you should get it. You deserve something nice."** Aang said, Masami nodding behind him.

**"I do, don't I? But no. It's too expensive, I shouldn't. "** Sokka said, placing it back down.

**"Alright, then don't."** Masami said, as Momo grabbed hold of her hand, searching for the food she'd hidden from him. Aang moved away from him to stand with Masami. Sokka seemed to be following, but then turned back,

_**'**_**You know what? I'm gonna get it."** He said happily, Masami rolled her eyes, and looked as a man ran up to them, handing Aang something,

_**"**_**Psst, psst. Hey, you kids like earthbending? You like throwing rocks Then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy**." He said, moving off.

**"Look, there's a coupon on the back. The first lesson is free."** Aang mentioned, flipping the paper over in his hands as Sokka joined them, looking over his shoulder.

_**"**_**Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for."** He said, Aang nodding lightly.

XOXO

They'd gotten the sign they'd been waiting for. The Avatar had last been sighted heading north from Chin, which hadn't been too far from where they were at the time they'd heard the news. Zuko pushed Zolo even harder than he had been before and it was only during the times that Kali was driving that the ostrich-horse caught any kind of break.

"**Can't you push this thing any faster?! We're wasting time,"** Zuko frowned impatiently.

"**If I keep pushing him the way you have, the poor thing'll collapse from exhaustion by the time night falls," **Kali frowned back, **"We have to pace ourselves a bit, for his sake at least."  
**

Zuko grumbled incoherently and crossed his arms behind her. She kept her head down in order to avoid the glare of the hot sun above them. Zuko had his hat on, so he didn't have to worry about that. She'd been pleased to note this morning, before he put the hat on, that his hair had finally filled in, giving him a relatively normal, if a bit scruffy-looking short hair cut. She no longer insisted he wear the hat all the time, something that had seemingly pleased him as much as it did her.

They had passed Chin a few hours ago and were significantly north of it now, headed farther inland again. Kali wondered why the Avatar and friends had changed their course from headed south to back up north abruptly. Where were they going exactly? Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of thundering footsteps. She and Zuko exchanged glances, noting that the thundering was behind them. Kali pulled them off the road and stopped them not too far from it, hoping whatever was coming would just hurry on past them. Unfortunately, it didn't.

XOXO

The teacher turned out to be a flop, Aang came out of the dojo,

"He's not the one." He said, beating dirt out of the side of his head. Two other boys came out of the dojo behind them, speaking loudly,

_"_I think The Boulder is gonna win back the belt at Earth Rumble 6."

**"**He's gonna have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ." They discussed. The groups eyes all drifted to each other as the boys walked off,

"Excuse me, but where is this earthbending tournament exactly?" Aang asked, running towards the boys. One of them smiled,

**"**It's on the Island of Noneoya – none o' ya business!" He said with a laugh, slapping hands with his moronic friend. Sokka laughed as they approached, though Masami was clearly upset.

"Ha, ha! Oh, I got to remember that one." Sokka said, Masami smiled lightly, brushing past the boys,

"I'll find out where it is." Masami smiled, moving after the boys,

"Hey boys, wait up." Aang narrowed his eyes in their direction, listening to sounds of disrespect towards Masami. Aang looked at Sokka as he spoke, holding his bag up.

_"_What was I thinking? I don't need a new bag. Why'd you let me buy this?" He said, dropping it. Momo curled up on it, and he began to sleep.

_"_You ready to find an earthbending teacher Because we're going to Earth Rumble 6!" Masami said, crossing her arms lightly as she walked back towards them.

"How did you get them to tell you?" Aang asked, smiling lightly.

**"**Oh, you know, I can be persuasive when push comes to shove." She said, amusedly.

XOXO

Zuko and Kali tensed as they suddenly found themselves surrounded by a team of Fire Nation soldiers on rhinos. Kali wondered who these guys were but she didn't have to wonder about what they probably wanted. After all, Zuko had a distinctive face so they'd probably recognized him just like the folks in the town he'd been captured in. Zuko asked them anyway, as he took a defensive stance.

**"What do you want?"** he growled.

**"Isn't it obvious?"** asked the soldier with feathers sticking up above his ponytail, smirking, "We want to collect the reward on your head, Prince. And while we're at it, we might as well take in that little wench you have with you and see what we can get for her, since she's obviously been aiding in some way or another."

Kali and Zuko scowled in unison. Wench...that's a new one, thought Kali, How flattering. The rhino riders began to move in and Kali noted that each of them seemed to have picked a different weapon of choice. One appeared to be a Yu Ten archer, another carried a satchel which seemed to be filled with bombs, the third held long chains, the fourth (with an enormous braided beard) held a halberd, and the one who had spoken struck a fire-bending stance. She and Zuko, recognizing it would be easier to fight on food than from the top of Zolo at the moment, dismounted. Kali faced the archer, halberd, and chain-slinger while Zuko faced the firebender and the explosives-wielder. As one, the rhino riders charged.

XOXO

That night, the group made their way towards a stadium setting of sorts. Masami looked at the large circle of rocks making the "stage" or arena of some kind. She looked to see most sitting farther back then the first few rows where they chose to sit.

**"Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here."** Aang wondered as they sat. No sooner had they been sitting for a few seconds, did a large boulder slam into the seats to their right.

_**"**_**I guess that's why."** Sokka said sarcastically. Just then, a man rose from the floor,

_**"**_**Welcome to Earth Rumble 6! I am your host, Shin Fu!"** He called, getting the crowd stirred up. The boys in the group were excited, while Masami had her head reclined, and was starting to doze.

_**"**_**This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chuckin' rocks at each other, isn't it?"** She asked,

**"That's what I paid for."** Sokka cried hopefully.

_**"**_**The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win."** Shin Fu said. He earthbended himself into the tower above the arena,

_**"**_**Round one! The Boulder versus The Big Bad Hippo!"** He called ominously.

_**"**_**Listen up, Hippo. You may be big, but you ain't bad! The Boulder's gonna win this in a landslide."** Called a man with an exaggerated voice.

_**"**_**Hippo mad!"** Cried the fat man. Masami rolled her eyes, she knew she was in for a long night.

XOXO

Halberd charged her directly, brandishing his weapon. She jumped to her right and drew one of her swords to block his weapon while she sent a fiery blast towards Chain-slinger's rhino, which was nearly on top of her. The rhino reared back away from the blast and she spun to the back of Halberd's rhino, giving it a good kick to the rear which caused it to lunge forward and throw him off balance. Meanwhile, Zuko dodged the explosives being thrown at him and jumped aboard the firebender's rhino, landing a solid kick in the man's face. She ducked as an arrow flew her way and saw Archer string another as his rhino charged towards her. She darted to the side of the rhino and slashed at his bow and arrow with her sword, combining firebending with the slash. He managed to avoid it but his arrow was cut in two. She advanced on him quickly, hoping to destroy his bow this time but yelped as her leg was caught by a chain. Chain-slinger leered at her as he dragged her across the ground towards him. She grunted and lifted her leg enough to break off the chain with her firebending. As she picked herself up, the Chain-slinger bore down on her with his rhino. Realizing the Archer was also headed directly for her, she ran towards Chain-Slinger, hoping that time with the circus would pay off again and that she could still do this. She leapt, grabbed the rhino by the horns, and flipped up to land unsteadily on top of saddle, knocking Chain-slinger in the face as she did so. Unfortunately, it had been a while since she'd done such a move and she toppled from the rhino alongside the man as it collided with Archer's rhino. Realizing he was still not down for the count as he began to get up, Kali slammed her foot into the side of Chain-Slinger's head, knocking him out this time. She got up and turned just in time to see Halberd swinging his weapon down towards her. She barely had time to move before she was tackled to the side by Zuko, preventing her from being sliced.

"**Thanks,"** she said, breathlessly, looking up at him in surprise.

He nodded quickly then they rose to face the remaining four members of the troop. Zuko took out the now grounded Archer quickly, rushing him and snapping his bow as he pushed the man backward. Kali blocked the explosives and flames thrown at her with a barrier of fire, then took aim at Explosive Man's satchel, setting it on fire. The resulting explosion knocked both his rhino and Feather Man's rhino to the ground, sending both riders flying to the side. Zuko, meanwhile, knocked Halberd from his sattle. Before the riders could recover, Kali and Zuko ran across the road to where Zolo had scattered during the fight. Kali grabbed the reins and jumped on the ostrich-horse, Zuko joining her a moment later and they galloped away down the road, escaping the Fearsome Five.

XOXO

Masami had nearly fallen asleep, then the Announcer spoke again

"**Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder versus your champion…The Blind Bandit!"** The "bandit" appeared slowly, 3 people appearing, 2 ladies removed the coat of the bandit, and the belt, and the "bandit" seemed to actually be a girl…

**"She can't really be blind. It's just part of her character, right?"** Masami asked, slightly nervously.

_**"**_**I think she is."** Aang said, they both looked at Sokka as he yelled,

**"I think she is…Going down!"** He excited scream reverberated through Masami's ears. She winced and gradually looked back to the arena where the girl stood calmly before the meat headed man.

**"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl."**

**"**_**Sounds**_** to me like you're scared, Boulder. "** Taunted the bandit.

**"****The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you in a rock-a-lanche!"** Screamed the large man, exciting the crowd.

"**Whenever you're ready…The Pebble. Ha ha ha!"** Masami smiled. She liked this girl.

**"It's on!"** He cried. She looked nonchalant. The Boulder stepped forward, screaming. His heel hurdled towards the ground. The Bandit leaned forward and opened her arms, the Boulder stepped down harshly again, stomping. The Bandit merely swung her right food, and created a ground shaking move, creating a crack, heading straight for the Boulder. The wave hit him, and he dropped to the ground in a split. Sokka winced,

**"Ooh!"** The Boulder screamed in anguish. The Bandit made a chopping motion swiftly with her right hand, and three segments of rock flew from the ground, throwing the man from the arena.

_**"**_**Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!"** Cried the Announcer.

_**"**_**No!"** Sokka cried, Masami on the other hand was amazed,

**"She's fantastic!"** She smiled,

"**Yeah! She waited, and listened."** He said with a smile, remembering what he had been told in the swamp.

**"****To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit! What? No one dares to face her?"** The Announcer called, hopping from his perch.

**"I will!"** Aang cried, flying from the stands. Masami swallowed, was this a good idea?

XOXO

Kali and Zuko had managed to escape but unfortunately their supplies hadn't. They'd left most of their supplies attached to Zolo when they'd jumped down to fight the soldiers. Evidently, as Zolo had fled during the fight, one of the satchels holding their supplies had come loose and they'd been in too much of a hurry to escape to notice until it was too late. Much to their dismay, they were now without food or extra clothing (apart from Zuko's mask and Blue Spirit clothes) and their waterskins were almost empty. Zuko had only a few coins left in his money pouch and the same was true of Kali.

"**You know what this means, don't you?"** she asked Zuko.

"**What?"  
**

"**We both need to get some kind of temporary job in the next town we reach. Just for a couple of days so we can restock our supplies."  
**

"**What?!"** She rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming next.

"**We don't have TIME FOR THIS! We've finally found the Avatar's trail again and we're catching up. We can't AFFORD to stop NOW!"  
**

"**Well, we can't AFFORD to keep going now either. We hardly have enough left to feed ourselves for more than a day or two and I'm sure it wouldn't hurt for Zolo to have some bags of feed either. The grass around here is tough and not as good for him and there's not a lot available for us to scavenge for either. We're traveling through a relatively rough area to live in if you're not a farmer or part of a town. I'm not pleased about this either, but without our supplies, which would have made it possible for us to travel without stopping for a couple of weeks at least, we need to stop."** Zuko groaned and she heard him face-palm himself in dismay.

"**Sorry, that's just how it is. I don't think the next town's too much farther. We'll stop there and see what kind of temporary jobs are available." **

XOXO

As Aang took the stage, Sokka began to scream,

"**Go Aang! Avenge The Boulder!"** Masami rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. She didn't like the idea of Aang fighting a girl, nor the idea of fighting in general.

_**"**_**Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?"** The Bandit taunted. The crowd made an "ooooooh!" sound, but Aang put his hands up,

_**"**_**I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you."** He said smoothly, though slightly rushed,

_**"**_**Boo! No talking!"** Sokka yelled, getting a swift slap to the side of the head,

"**Do not Boo Aang." **She spoke lowly, her eyes never leaving the arena. Masami watched the girl stomp as Aang took a step closer, she winced, closing her eyes part of the way as a large rock emerged from the around underneath Aang, and he flew into the hair. He pushed off the rock gracefully, and landed behind her, causing her to turn around, looking mildly put out.

**"Somebody's a little light on his feet. What's your fighting name, **_**"**_**The Fancy Dancer?""** Aang said nothing, smiled lightly, and she forced another rock beneath him. He flew into the air again, this time somersaulting through the air with no issue.

**"Where'd you go?"** She asked, turning a few times, as he landed gently behind her,

"**Please, wait!"** He called,

**"There you are!"** She said, raising a boulder to throw at him. The audience went wild until Aang airbended the rock backwards towards the Bandit, who, like the rock, flew from the area. Aang looked around, shocked as the crowd went crazy. Aang looked toward the bandit as she made off towards a door,

_**"**_**Please listen! I need an earthbending teacher, and I think it's supposed to be you."** He cried, rushing after her,

**"Whoever you are, just leave me alone.**" She scoffed, leaving through a hole in the wall that slammed in his face,

_**"**_**Wait!"** He cried in vain. Masami and Sokka made towards Aang, or Masami did, she touched his shoulder, as his head sagged, she put her arm around his shoulders, and Sokka slapped him on the back,

_**"**_**Way to go, champ!"** Sokka cried, holding up the winner belt and a sack of gold, but neither of which made Aang's mood any better.

XOXO

It seemed like a relatively prosperous town, especially considering its rough surroundings. Kali and Zuko strolled through the streets with Zolo in tow and found a store to buy some food from. As Kali had suspected, they were able to buy very little and had to settle for rather low quality stuff in order to keep them supplied for the next couple of days. They walked down to the center of the town where multiple boards held ads and wanted posters. Kali cringed as she noticed that Zuko's wanted poster had spread here and hastily flicked Zuko's hat down lower on his face to help hide the scar. He scowled at her but noticed the poster also and kept his hat low.

**"We have got to find a way to keep that hidden so long as we're here,"** Kali muttered to him under her breath.

**"What would you suggest?"** he hissed back at her.

**"Hmmm…"** She looked around and thought hard.

A moment later, they re-entered the marketplace from an alley, this time with long bangs drifted down across the scarred half of Zuko's face. The hair was a bit blacker than his but, with the hat on, nobody would notice anyway. Kali'd needed a haircut anyway, she thought, as she patted her greatly shortened ponytail.

**"This is humiliating,"** growled Zuko.

**"You look fine, just make sure you don't ever lose your hat, seeing as how the bangs are attached to it. That would be humiliating,"** she whispered back subtly.

They returned to the ads and searched for wanted temporary help. Kali soon found the right section.

**"Okay, let's see here…Temporary Postitions…We have…Dishwasher…Muck-Scrapers…Moving Targets?!"**

She stared at that one for a moment, one eyebrow raised, before continuing.

**"Er…Prison Cook (Note: Both men and women should be prepared for occupational hazards such as constant harassment and death)…Latrine-Cleaner…aaaand Baby-sitters."**

She and Zuko looked at each other. After a moment, she asked,

**"Well…what do you think?"**

**"Which ones pay the best?"**

**"Ummm…Prison Cook and Baby-sitters, it looks like. I think I'd be prefer Dish-washer myself but other two would get us out of here faster. Looks like the Baby-sitter one would be open for two people at least and it says they'll take anyone. The job starts tomorrow morning and ends three days later."**

She looked over at Zuko.

**"Not exactly my cup of tea really but, I mean, we'll get more money for our time, which will mean we'll have to stop less in the future. We'll be able to make up more time that way."**

She looked back down at the ad.

**"Only thing that bothers me is how desperate they sound. They'll let anyone off the street watch their children and they're willing to pay a big price. They also say they'll pay so long as the children stay in tact."**

Zuko scowled.

**"Like you said, what difference does it make? They'll pay us a lot for it and it'll take about as much time as we would have had to take anyway. We might as well go for it. I think I can handle a few brats for a few days."**

She frowned worriedly. After all, it did require the children to still be in tact…

XOXO

The next morning, the group moved around town, Sokka ranting on and on about the way the bag matched the belt.

**"I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag. It matches the belt perfectly." **Sokka beamed,

**"That is a big relief."** Aang said sarcastically, moving back to look at Masami,

"**If we want to find The Blind Bandit, the Earthbending Academy is a good place to** **start."** He stated more then asked, but he seemed to look for her approval, which she gave. They moved to the academy, looking towards Masami, and freezing,

_**"**_**Oh great, you again."** They said towards Aang, rudely. Masami raised her hands lightly to crack her knuckles, making the boys nervous.

_**"**_**Yeah, I didn't think so."** She said as they flinched,

**"Nicely done."** Sokka whispered with a smile.

"**Hey, you're the kid who beat The Blind Bandit."** One of the boys said, moving towards Aang.

**"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives?"** Aang asked with a hopeful expression.

**"The Blind Bandit's a mystery. She shows up to fight, then disappears."** The other boy added, disappointing Aang. Masami placed her hands on his shoulders,

"**Tell us everything or I'm going to be angry."** She said, gritting her teeth. The boys flinched,

**"No no, I swear it's true! No one knows where she goes, or who she really is."** One added, trying to hold his ground.

**"That's because we're asking about the wrong person. In my vision, I saw a girl in a white dress with a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?"** Aang asked in a different manner. One boy seemed to perk up,

_**"**_**Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Bei Fong family. They're the richest people in town, probably the whole world."** One said with a smile,

**"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter."** The other added,

"**Flying boar is good enough for me. Let's check it out."** Aang said, pulling his friends out of the dojo.

XOXO

Kali and Zuko strolled up to the rather big estate of the people they were told were the third richest family in the Earth Kingdom. Kali glanced about nervously as they walked up some stairs to an impressive looking house. No wonder they could afford to pay so much to have their children watched. Nonetheless, though, she was shocked they were willing to take just anyone off the street. Couldn't they afford a full-time, proper babysitter? She also worried about people's reactions when they'd asked directions, explaining that they wanted to apply for the job. There had been a lot of exchanging of looks, some snickering, and even a couple of gasps. She'd heard one man mention how

"**Those Yings are lucky we keep having all these desperate refugees passing through."** She wondered if she and Zuko were getting into more trouble than they could handle with this. After all, large men with weapons was one thing. Children with major defects was quite another. You could attack the large men with weapons and not feel or look bad for doing it. Children, on the other hand…not so much.  
The door was answered by a man who appeared to be the Ying family's butler. As soon as he was told why they were there, he ushered them in quickly, ordered them to stay put in the front room, and hurried to the back. A moment later, a nicely dressed, relatively young looking couple rushed into the room.

"**We understand you'll agree to watch our children for the next three days?"** Kali and Zuko bowed (Zuko more hesitantly) and nodded.

"**Yes, sir. The price on here is correct, right?"** asked Kali, wanting to make absolutely certain there wasn't some mistake.

"**Of course,"** said the man hurriedly, **"In that case, would you be willing to start tonight? You can expect us back three days from now in the evening."** Zuko and Kali looked at each other, a bit taken aback.

"**Well, yes sir, we can, but-"  
**

"**Good, then we'll leave you to it,"** pressed the wife and they rushed into their back room and returned soon with their luggage being carried by servants.

"**The children are upstairs,"** said the wife, then added, **"Do take good care of them please and see that not too much damage is done to the house this time, if possible."  
**

"**Well, yes ma'am, but-"  
**

"**Alright, we'll be going then. Egil will show you around the house and instruct you. He and the rest of the staff will be taking the next three days off as well. Good bye, we'll see you in a few days,"** cried the man and then they were gone, leaving the stunned pair of newly named baby-sitters to be shown around the house.

XOXO

The group moved towards the outskirts of the city. There, a large gate surrounded a large bit of property. The land was beautiful. There was a group of pigs, boar more specifically.

**"That's the flying boar from my vision. Come on."** Aang said, pointing lightly. Aang airbended himself over the fence, while Masami and Sokka climbed over. There were some fields near the fence. Slowly the group looked around a bush, but then there was a large rush in the earth, spikes throwing all the group into the air. Masami landed in the bushes, as did Aang, while Sokka landed hard on his back. Then, before them, was the Bandit, but her garb was much different.

**"What are you doing here, twinkle toes?"** She asked Aang,

**"How did you know it was me?"** Aang questioned,

_**"**_**Don't answer to twinkle toes. It's not manly!"** Sokka chided, Masami rolled her eyes.

**"You're the one whose bag matches his belt."** Masami reminded,

**"How did you find me?"** She asked Aang,

**"Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and —"** Aang babbled, as he airbended himself to his feet. As cute as his rant was to Masami, it didn't seem to impress the Bandit.

"**What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar, and if he doesn't master earthbending soon he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord."** Sokka said, standing slowly. But, he was stopped by the girl.

_**"**_**Not my problem. Now get out of here or I'll call the guards."** Masami furrowed her brow,

**"Look, we all have to do our part to win this war. And yours is to teach Aang earthbending."** Sokka said again, she looked back over her shoulder, and then she called,

_**"**_**Guards! Guards, help!"** The group looked to each other, and exited the area swiftly, though Aang sat atop the wall and watched, though, soon he smiled deviously, and he hoped down, and he ran past them, that face making Masami a bit nervous.

XOXO

Egil showed them around the lower level of the large home then took them to the staircase which led upstairs.

**"You'd best go on up and meet the children,"** he said, then, raising an eyebrow, added, **"If you dare."  
**  
Joined by the cook and a couple other household servants, he hastily left the house, leaving Kali and Zuko to look up the stairs nervously.

**"Guess we better get this over with..."** muttered Kali, thinking that perhaps the job as the prison cooks would have been a better choice.

They were just climbing the stairs when they heard a huge crash, then found themselves nearly trampled by a troop of hog-monkeys came thundering down the stairs, screaming wildly. They were immediately followed by a boy who looked to be a couple of years younger than themselves (perhaps the Avatar's age?), a pair of slightly younger twin girls, three more boys of varying ages, and an adorable little toddler girl hugging a stuffed platypus bear.

**"Wait fo me!"** cried the little girl, as the others hurtled past Kali and Zuko. She stumbled as she began to toddle down the stairs, beginning to fall, and Kali lunged up a few stairs to catch her. From upstairs, she could hear at least two babies screaming. Hog-monkeys and nine children?!! WHAT THE HELL?!!! Abruptly, an alligator hound leapt from the top of the stairs and landed on her before bounding off after the kids. The little hazel-eyed, sandy haired child looked down at her from where Kali was propping her up.

**"Are you tah new baby-sidders?"**

**"That's us,"** said Kali, cracking a half-hearted smile.  
**  
"Yaaay! Tat means we gedda do whateva we want, wight?"**

"Well, not exactly."

Kali stood and hesitantly took the little child's free hand to help her the rest of the way down the stairs.

**"Was his name?"** the girl asked, pointing at Zuko.

**"That's Lee and I'm Sofi. What's your name?"**

**"WOOOOW! My name's Sofi too!"** said the toddler with gusto, then looked back at Zuko, "**Why you still got yer hat on?"**

**"Err, well..."** stuttered Zuko.

**"He really likes the hat a lot, is all," interjected Kali, then whispered conspiratorially to the girl, "He's got a scar. It's really embarrassing. Don't tell anybody, okay?"**

The girl's eyes widened.

**"Okay,"** she whispered back, then looked at Zuko with a new look of apparent understanding in her eyes.

**"Do you think you could introduce us the rest of your family? We've only met your parents so far."  
**  
**"Okay,"** the little girl perked up and tugged Kali's hand to lead her the rest of the way downstairs while Zuko followed.

XOXO

Masami, Aang and Sokka reappeared on the property, but this time, for once in the time she'd know him, Aang used the fact he was the Avatar to his advantage. A servant showed them in,

"**Excuse me sir, but you have a visitor."** He said wearily.

**"Who thinks they are so important they can just come to my home unannounced?"** The man form inside the room bellowed,

**"uh, the Avatar, sir."** He said, bowing lightly as they were shown in behind him. The girl at the table didn't look terribly happy to see them, pardon the pun. They were invited as guests for dinner, and they all say along one side of the table. Sokka couldn't contain his excitement about real food, and was gorging himself. Masami ate in silence as they were pleasantly conversing. She was asked what she was to the Avatar, and it was said she was Sokka's cousin and his waterbending Master, the fact she was his girlfriend and not really of any relation to Sokka was left out.

All eyes looked up as a servant brought a plate to the girl.

**"****Blow on it. It's too hot for her."** Her father instructed,

**"Allow me."** Aang said politely, creating a tiny whirlwind which cooled the food. Everyone clapped for the feat, though it was nothing for Aang.

_**"**_**Oh my!"** Cried the girl's teacher.

_**"**_**Avatar Aang, it's an honor to have you visit us."** The Bandit's mother said. Bowing, her father cut in,

**"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?"** He asked,

**"****I'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer, but I can't do without finding an earthbending teacher first."** Aang explained, looking at the girl expectantly. Masami could say she didn't like the looks he gave the girl, but she tried not to show it.

**"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land. He's been teaching Toph since she was little."** The girl's father motioned to the seemingly useless man at the side of the table.

**"Then she must be a great earthbender, probably good enough to teach someone else."** Aang suggested, suddenly hopping from his seat in pain,

"**Ow!"** He cried, looking at the other girl. Masami's face deadpanned, and she didn't care anymore. She would let them act like children if they chose, meaning for the moment, she was letting her jealousy get the better pf her.

**"Toph is still learning the basics."** Yu informed them. Yeah, and Masami was a firebender.

**"Yes, and sadly because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master." **Her father said. Boy were these people ignorant.

_"_**Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is."** Aang insisted, though his face soon fell into his food bowl. Masami snickered lightly, but she soon whipped the expression from her face. As Aang picked up his head, the bowl stuck to his face, making Masami giggled audibly, and she could see the other girl actually smile, she hadn't noticed more then a grimance most of the meal. Before Masami could register anything else, Aang "sneezed" and wind flew across the table, sending food all over the head of the house's wife, Toph and her master. Toph stood, angered,

"**What's your problem?" **

**  
****"What's **_**your**_** problem?"** Aang shot back as they glared until her mother broke the tension,

_**"**_**Well, shall we move to the living room for dessert then?"** She asked politely.

XOXO

At this point, Kali had almost become convinced she would rather take on the Fire Lord herself then spend another moment in this hell. Once they'd managed to round up the hog-monkeys (exotic "pets" for the children to play with) and the children, Sofi had introduced Kali and Zuko to them all, while Kali had anxiously listened to what were now three distinct sets of screaming coming from upstairs. The oldest, Xan, was twelve and he immediately stated that he was "too cool for baby-sitters" and got off on the wrong foot with Zuko by telling him his hair looked dumb. Zuko, already self-conscious about his fake bangs as it was, had started to move forward as if to punch the kid but Kali'd stopped him. The twins, Wahida and Wahiba (What had those parents been THINKING?!), were 10-year-old earthbenders and Kali had gotten the feeling from the start that they were planning major mischief. Acario, the 8-year-old, had immediately begun whining about basically EVERYTHING, but he'd started by whining about baby-sitters and the way Kali and Zuko were dressed and whatnot. Kali worried that she'd either end up gagging him or Zuko's kill him if he didn't shut his mouth soon. Achyuta, the 7-year-old, was sick now and evidently this was constantly true. The poor child apparently had some terminal condition where he always got sick and had a thousand allergies as well, which he listed for them alphabetically. Wahib, the 5-year-old with an eerily similiar name to his twin sisters, had immediately attached himself to Kali's leg and begun begging for Zuko's attention. Sofi, a moment after she'd finished introducing everyone, had yelled that she had to pee and Kali, due to Zuko's immediate withdrawal from the room, had been forced to escort her, with Wahib still attached to her leg. When she'd returned, she'd found Zuko stewing as Acario, who had picked up on Xan's earlier insult, whined about his hair and Achyuta sneezed all over him.

**"Zu-Lee, where are the twins and Xan?"**

**"They took off for the kitchen,"** he growled.

**"Well, go make sure they're not doing anything horrible while I check on the babies screaming upstairs. Unless you'd rather have it the other way around?"  
**  
Instantly, Zuko was on his way to the kitchen.

Kali struggled up the stairs holding Sofi's hand and dragging Wahib, who was now asking her all sorts of questions. She hadn't been able to pry him off and she felt she needed to take care of those babies fast. Sofi seemed anxious to introduce her to the babies. They finally reached the room the screaming was coming from and Sofi went around introducing the babies.

**"Tis is Weema, tis is Iti, and tis is Wafu."**

Kali blanched at the smell of dirty diaper. She looked down at Rafu, who was the closest to her, and blanched even more. The child had not only filled his diaper with nastiness but had wet his bed as well. She looked at the two girls, Weema and Iti, and noted that they too had dirty diapers. She walked back to the staircase.

**"LEE!"** she shouted.

**"WHAT?!!!"** came the angry reply.

**"If you're not too busy, I need you up here NOW!"**

"WELL I'M BUSY!!!"

She grumbled to herself, patted Sofi's head and assured her it was okay (Sofi, on hearing loud voices, had started to cry), then went back in to see about the diapers. I'll take you on any day, Fire Lord, she thought glumly.

XOXO

After dessert, the trio was shown into a large room. Sokka laid down on the floor, and was asleep pretty fast. Masami leaned her head against the sofa, watching Aang say good night to Appa through the window,

"**Good night buddy."** He called, waving. They all looked as someone else padded into the room. There stood Toph, Aang cried out, startied, and took a position, ready for a fight.

_**"**_**Relax. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, ok?"** She asked, surprising the entire room. Aang relaxed his stance, and she spoke,

"**Can I talk to you?"** she asked, he nodded, and they headed for the door. Aang looked back at Masami and Sokka,

"**I'll be right back."** He said slowly, Sokka nodded,

"**Alright."** He said. Aang looked to Masami, who crossed her arms,

"**Fine."** She was getting that ragey jealously again, and she didn't like it one bit. As they left Sokka looked at her,

"**Something wrong?"** He asked, he knew good and well what was wrong, she could tell he was just trying to be nice.

"**Nothing like getting replaced, hmm?"** She mused, pulling her legs up to her face.

"**Aang couldn't replace you, he adores you."** She scoffed,

"**I guess."** She said, closing her eyes against her legs. Recently, her patience with other girls around Aang was being tested, and she was getting sick of it.

XOXO

Kali could handle getting dirty when necessary. She'd done plenty of dirty jobs (she groaned inwardly, thinking of how Masami would twist her words, crazy little perv) over the years for less pay and been fine. But, really, she was a clean kind of person when it came right down to it. And, with regards to other people, she wasn't even that big on physical contact, let alone contact with bodily fluids (again, thoughts of Masami. She only pretended to be innocent.). These children were a nightmare.

Wahid was clinging to her leg and had sneezed on her at some point and Sofi had started to cry again and begged to be held. Kali had eventually offered to compromise, letting Sofi sit on her shoulders because Kali needed both hands to change diapers with. The tearful child had accepted the idea begrudgingly and kept shifting her hands back and forth between picking/wiping her now dribbling nose and running them across Kali's face and through her hair. Meanwhile, Kali grimaced and cringed as the changed the babies' diapers, something she'd never done before. It wasn't that hard but, nonetheless, it was a learning experience. It was disgusting. She gingerly tossed Iti's old diaper into the trash can in the room and tried to ignore what her hands were now covered in. She finally got to Rafu, who was screaming even louder than his two sisters now.

Sofi's hands roamed over her eyes, smearing more snot across her face.

**"Sofi, I can't see. Can you please move your hands?"**

"Sowwy. Whewe's Lee?"

**"I think he's downstairs still with the rest of your family."**

Sofi leaned down to whisper in Kali's ear, her breath steamy and uncomfortable.  
**  
"What's his scar from?"**

Wahib picked up on the not-so-quiet whisper and, anxious for some attention, broke in.

**"What scar?!"**

**"Shhhh!"** ushered Sofi**, "'S a secret!"**

Kali paused for a moment, unsure what to answer at first, then just went with the truth, sort of.

**"There was…a bad misunderstanding. And an accident."**

**"Ooooooh!"** both the kids responded.

Kali removed Rafu's diaper and dumped it. Before she could get the next one on, however, the urge hit him and Kali was blinded. She stood stiffly as it dripped down her face to her neck and shirt and the two children laughed. Rafu stopped screaming, looked up at her, and giggled. It was a cute giggle, she'd give him that much. She stiffly replaced his diaper, silently screaming in her head.

She wiped herself off hastily with a towel, hearing the sounds of disaster coming from downstairs, debated for a moment whether to take the screamers with her, then decided she had enough kids on her already to deal with whatever Zuko's problem was. She rushed down the stairs (as fast as she could with a kid on her leg and a kid on her back) and arrived in the kitchen in time to have Zuko shout,

**"SOOOOFIIII!"**

directly in her face.

She was about to respond equally as loudly when she took in his predicament. Sofi tearily asked whether or not he was mad at her and Kali assured her he wasn't mad at her, he was just mad in general, and that he'd meant her, not the little girl. Zuko appeared to be completely covered in mud and temporarily pinned on the floor by rocks and the alligator hound they'd seen earlier who was growling at him irritably and looked as though it was about to snap his head off.

**"GET THIS THING OFF ME!!!"  
**  
Kali acted quickly.

**"Sofi, what's your hound's name?"**

"Oh tas Waghnalli. Inin't she sweet?"

"I need Raghnalli to get off of Lee. Do you know how I could convince her he's a friend?"

"Waghnalli! Hewe giwl! Tis is Lee. He's a good guy."

The hound turned her attention to the little girl, spotted Kali, and leapt up at her, snarling ferociously. Kali darted back.

**"Mind telling her I'm a friend too?"**

"Waghnalli! Down giwl! SIT! Tis is Sofi, she's a fwiend too!"

Fortunately, the hound evidently listened very well to the little girl, viewing her as her master, and backed off, still shooting Kali and Zuko dirty looks. Kali set Sofi down and shoved the rocks off of Zuko.

**"What happened?"**

"Those bratty little twins hit me with a mud slide then pinned me and sicked that monster on me."

**"Raghnalli's not a monster,"** inserted Wahib suddenly, "**She's just really protective. Besides, Mommy said she's gonna have babies soon!"  
**  
Kali groaned. Even better, a pregnant alligator hound. What will they think of next?

**"One of us needs to go find the other kids and the other person needs to take care of those babies. I changed their diapers but they're still screaming. They're probably either hungry or tired or just in need of comforting. Which will it be, Lee? Screamers or Twins, Whiner, and Mr. Cool?"**  
**  
"I'll take the babies I guess,"** he growled.

Kali looked down at Wahib.

**"Wahib, I need my leg back now. Would you mind going with Lee to help look after the babies? I'm sure he'd love your help."**

Zuko glared at her as Wahib attached himself to Zuko and started asking him questions.

**"I'll go wif Lee too. I wanna ask him questions too,"** Sofi said and followed Zuko as he angrily stomped up the stairs. Kali scowled at the mess and walked out to find the other kids.

XOXO

When the pair didn't return for a while, Masami begrudgingly went to look for them. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Aang not being here was annerving her to no end, no matter how peeved she wanted to be with him. As they moved out of their room, they met Master Yu and the parents of Toph.

They moved into the garden, and there were large imprints there from tsomething, and a sword stuck in the ground. Sokka tugged some paper attached to it off, and handed it to Masami.  
**  
****"Whoever took Aang and Toph left this."** He said as she took the paper.

""**If you want to see your daughter again, bring**__**500 gold pieces to the arena." It's signed "Xin Fu and The Boulder.""** She said somberly.

**"I can't believe it…. have the Boulder's autograph!"** Sokka screamed, dropping to his knees dramatically. Masami rolled her eyes, taking the scroll from him, wapping him in the back of the head with it.

"**Master Yu, I need you to help you get my daughter back."** Toph's father said.

**"We're going with you."** Masami added, Sokka nodding as he stood. They watched as her mother knelt, and Masami's heart went out to the woman,

_**"**_**Poor Toph. She must be so scared."** She sobbed. Masami knew then they had to get them back, and fast.

XOXO

No sooner had Kali stepped outside the back door, then a bucket of mud fell on her head. Awesome. She heard giggling and looked to see the twins not too far away behind a bush. She ran toward them, watching the ground for signs of earthbending, and they ran, giggling, around the corner of the house. As she reached the corner, she stopped herself short just in time to miss being pelted by mud balls. She focused, knowing she had to beat them at their own game some how if she was going to get this to stop. She jumped and rolled around the corner to avoid the mud and ran towards the twins, dodging the missiles of earth. As she got nearer to them, they stopped pelting and focused on a large stone near them. With a great shoving motion, they heaved the stone at her. She managed to avoid getting hit seriously, but her left arm glanced off it as it rolled past. She winced and checked it. It would be pretty bruised but she could tell it wasn't any more serious than that. She was already freaking out on this inside from this house, but now she was pissed. Still in control but really pissed off. She sprinted after Wahida and Wahiba as they ran into an area that looked like their own specially designed obstacle course. Kali dodged earthbending move after earthbending move, sprayed with mud in the process, but otherwise able to avoid their attacks. She drew her swords and fended off stones as she followed them. She hated to seem threatening in such a way but it was the best choice she had. Finally, they ran into some woods on the edge of the property. Sensing they were following a trail leading them up a certain way, Kali took a detour. They had almost reached what was evidently their secret hideout in a cave when Kali darted out from behind a tree and caught them, grabbing them each by an arm.

**"I win. Got it?"**

They groaned and moaned about it not being fair and crossed their arms in a way that reminded her of Masami. They tried several times to break loose of her grip or to hurt her with earthbending but, after several stern looks and cross words from Kali as she dragged them back towards the house, they eventually gave in and admitted she'd won.

**"Now leggo, that hurts!"** cried one twin.

**"Look! I dunno how you kids have been brought up but, trust me, if you push me or especially Lee too far, things will not end happily. Especially if you push Lee. Short temper."**

**"Yeah, we noticed,"** snickered the other twin.

**"Don't push him,"** Kali's eyes flashed as they arrived back at the house finally and she glared at them, **"Baby-sitting is not something we do normally and I'm afraid it's hardly his style. I just hope he's been patient enough not to injure anyone back in the house."**

As she spoke, the door banged open and Zuko stood with a terrifying look on his face, holding all three babies screaming with Wahib still stuck to his leg and Sofi crying in the kitchen.

**"YOU TOLD THEM?!!"**

Oh great.

**"They wanted to know what was up with the hat. That was the best reason I could think of and it's the truth. Two good points for why I told them."**

Steam was coming from his nostrils. She hoped the kids didn't notice. He held out the babies.

**"FIX THEM!! I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING I COULD THINK OF AND NOTHING WORKS!!!"**

"Nothing EVER works for me," he added, the edge of desperation in his voice increasing.

Kali looked down at the twins.

**"No more earthbending games? Got it."**

They frowned and nodded, but she saw a slight twinkle in their eyes as they looked at Zuko.

**"Especially not with HIM!"**

They scowled.

**"Fiiiiine."**

"Inside the house for now, okay?"

She let them go and they stomped into the kitchen past Zuko as Kali took the babies from him.

**"You should probably find the three boys. I'm guessing they're somewhere outside or around the house?"**

"Ajuta, or whatever that kid's name is, is on the couch looking like he's gonna throw up. I dunno where the other two went."

Kali scowled.

**"Well go find them and bring them back here. Once we finish sorting out some of this mess, I'm going to make everybody dinner. You can tell them I need them back so we can all decide what to eat."  
**  
He grumbled then started to leave.

**"And Zuko,"** she whispered so the kids wouldn't hear, **"Cut it out with the steam, okay? They're just a bunch of crazy kids. The last thing we need right now is you killing someone or revealing your firebending. If you need to, go 'let off some steam' some place private. Just chill. We'll get through this."  
**  
He spat out some fire and smoke (making sure not to face the doorway as he did so) and stormed away.

XOXO

As the group moved towards the Arena, everyone was silent. The crunch of the ground underfoot made Masami's skin crawl, she hated the silence. She wanted to reach for Aang's hand, to strike up a conversation, something, anything, but all today and recently he was away from her and she was being more hormonal then usual. As they entered the arena, they could hear people down towards the bottom.

"**Toph!"** Her father cried, as they all turned to look at them as Sokka held up a bag,

_**"**_**Here's your money. Now let them go."** He said as he dropped the bag. Master Yu kicked it over to the men. The Announcer checked the contents of the bag, and lowered Toph's cage to the ground, dropping her. But, as they all turned to go, but Aang hadn't be released yet.

**"You got your money! Let Aang go."** She stood before the group, alone against a large group of me. The Announcer unrolled a scroll…it was a wanted poster of Aang. Masami's breath caught in her throat.

_**"**_**I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar.**__**Now, get out of my ring."** The announcer said, as a large group approached the Arena, slowly. The Wrestlers from before began to surround Masami, who wouldn't stand down. She raised water from the pouch beside her, and she held it before her, in a fighting stance.

**"Masami! ****Go. I'll be ok."** Aang assured, from his cage. She shook her head defiantly,

"**I'm not leaving you."** She said, still readying herself for a massive attack, that potentially she wouldn't walk away from. Behind her, Sokka looked towards Toph,

"**Toph, there's too many of them. She needs an earthbender. She needs you!"** He urged. Her father objected,  
**  
**_**"**_**My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you. "** He snapped at Sokka, but all eyes went to Toph as she took her hand from her father, and she made towards Masami.

_**"**_**Yes, I can."**

XOXO

It wasn't long before Achyuta stopped looking like he was gonna throw up and began throwing up. Kali placed the screaming babies into their highchairs, being sure to secure them, then grabbed the poor sickly child and helped him to the bathroom, getting vomit added to her list of nasty substances which were currently on her. She searched their cabinets in vain for the proper herbs to help calm his stomach but to no avail. They had no herbs. She winced sympathetically as the poor kid knelt over the toilet, emptying his small, thin body of its contents. She walked back into the living room and asked the pouting twins if they knew where they had any peppermarry growing on the property. One of them begrudgingly indicated out the back door, mumbling something about 'by the pond'. Hearing Achyuta wretch in the bathroom again, she informed the household she'd be right back, then hustled towards the pond she could see not too far. Peppermarry would do the trick. She'd have to stock these people up on herbs for this kid. He needed it. She reached the pond and searched it for peppermarry. As she did so, the pregnant alligator hound lunged out of the water towards her.

**"AAHH!"** she yelped in surprise, backing away. She spotted the peppermarry on the opposite bank and gave the snarling hound a wide berth, steadily striding swiftly over to where the herb was growing. Keeping the hound in the corner of her eye, she leaned down stiffly and grabbed a few handfuls. That should be enough. Refusing to induce the hound into chasing her, she strode in what she felt was a confident manner back towards the house, keeping a good distance from the pond. As she did so, Xan popped out of bush, startling her a bit. She raised and eyebrow and said,

**"C'mon, I'm gonna make dinner in a moment and I need everyone to help me decide what to make since I don't know what kind of stuff you guys like."**

He nodded in what she guessed he thought was a cool, casual way then began to strut along beside her. After a moment, he looked over at her slyly.  
**  
"Y'know, if you weren't covered in mud and throw up and had less clothes on, you'd be pretty hot."**

That threw her for a loop and she raised an eyebrow. She definitely hadn't seen that coming. But then again, he did appear to think he was Mr. Cool. Whatever.

**"Yeah? Well thanks,"** she said sarcastically, **"But I've got more important things to worry about than whether I look hot or not."**

**"Well, whatever," he said, then smiled smugly, "But if you change your mind tonight, I'll be available."**

She blushed angrily and turned to tell him she definitely wouldn't be available but just then Zuko appeared, Wahib now reattached to his leg and Acario being dragged fiercely towards the house whining about how Zuko was hurting him and how he didn't want to go back to the house.

**"I don't wanna go back to the house! Leggo, this hurts! IT HURTS! I don't wanna eat, I don't wanna be inside, I don't wanna be in the same room with you guys, I don't wanna..."**

The look on Zuko's face told Kali Acario would be adding "I don't want to live" to his list of complaints if he didn't shut his mouth soon. She turned her attention from cutting down the flirtatious egotist to saving the annoying brat from the pissed-off prince-in-hiding.

**"Hey Acario, what kind of things do you like to eat?"** she asked, joining the misfit trio.

He paused in his whining to consider the question.

**"Hmmm, I like noodles a lot."**

"Do you guys have noodles often?"

"Not as often as I want. I don't like it when Mommy doesn't have the servants make noodles. And Nana's noodles aren't as good as the ones they make at the carnival. I wish we had carnival noodles. I hate..."

And he was off on a rant about noodles. Well, at least he was distracted from his previous train of thought and walking a little more willingly toward the house now. Kali worked to pry Zuko's hand from Acario's arm where it had left white marks. It took a moment before she realized she had wound up holding his hand in the process of removing it. She let it go, feeling herself start to blush slightly, but was pleased to note that Xan had noted it as well and looked slightly put off. Zuko was faced away when she glanced to see if he'd noticed. Once the family was all gathered in the living room and Kali had given Achyuta the peppermarry, which had soon cured him of his constant vomit attacks, they had an enormous debate about what to eat, eventually narrowing it down to noodles versus roast pigchicken. Eventually, they'd had to settle for both. Kali set about cooking it (while simultaneously serving the babies from the milk bottles she'd found labeled their names) immediately while the younger kids fought over what story Zuko should tell them while she cooked (much to his chagrin) and the older kids stood in the kitchen telling her how she was doing her job wrong.

**"What would you guys know about cooking? You're a bunch of kids who have servants around all the time to do stuff for you."**

They couldn't really argue with that but the one of the twins tried to retort anyway.

**"Well...what would you know about cooking? You're just a...babysitter!"**

"Only for the next few days and that description's definitely accurate, considering how you guys have been acting..."

They pouted again.

**"I'm no baby!"** declared Xan obstinately, his pride obviously insulted.

**"Of course not."**

He smiled smugly at the twins.

**"From what I can tell, you're more at that little kid stage where they think they're big kids and hot stuff but they're not even out of their trainers yet."**

His smile disappeared and he joined the twins and Acario in pouting.

**"Alright, you guys, enough pouting. Have any of you ever cooked before?"**

They looked at each other and shook their heads.

**"Well...instead of standing around telling me how to do my job, maybe you should help me do my job instead. Noodles aren't that hard to cook right really and roast pigchicken's not too bad if you know just how long and hot to roast it."**

When they didn't look convinced, she rolled her eyes skyward.

**"Well, okay then. I just thought it might give you something to take your minds off what HORRIBLE kid-sitters you have. And who knows, maybe if you guys show me how to do it right, it'll actually taste good."**

The slight humoring of their current states of mind drew them in towards the idea and after a bit of consideration, they agreed to do it just to show her up. While she gave them directions on things to do and asked them where certain cooking tools were, she smirked as she listened to a struggling Zuko trying to tell a good story. The smirk disappeared when he accidentally made Sofi and Wahib cry with his pessimistic story-telling but soon, dinner was ready, which stopped the crying, at least for the time being.

XOXO

Toph moved towards Masami, Masami didn't know what to think of any of this, but she was glad to have help. She glanced at the girl as she spoke,

**"Let him go. I beat you all before, and I'll do it again." **

_**"**_**The Boulder takes issue with that comment.**" Said the large baffoon. Masami rolled her eyes, and then narrows them swiftly as Aang's cage is thrown across the room. Masami pointed,

"**The Hippo is mine. Feel free to take out the others."** Masami growled, looking at the large man. Toph nodded,

"**My pleasure."** Toph said with a smile. Masami looked back towards the large man, who really reminded her of more or less of an oversized baby. She raised her hands, her water whip coming with her.

"**Hippo smash little girl."** He said with a toothless smile,

"**I'm sure you can."** She retorted, whipping him in the face. He stomped, sending rocks towards her. Using water beside her, she froze her arms and broke the rock with surprising ease. She ran towards him, and she slashed him in the face. He slapped her away, sending her flying backwards, hitting the side of the arena. She heard a crack, and she didn't remember anything else for a few seconds. When she did come to, she saw a large shadow looming over her. She used some of the water near her, and made a slippery spot on the floor. The Hippo lost his balance, and she was barely able to roll out of the way before he fell. He cracked his face on the side of the arena, much as she had done, but lucky for her, he didn't get up.

She tried to roll to her feet, and she winced, staying low. She hunched over, holding onto her knees, and she was able to see Sokka trying to free Aang, and she could watch the little earth bender. The fact she was blind never stopped her. She was truly amazing. And as soon as it had started, it had stopped. Aang was free, and heading towards her. She looked up as he knelt beside her,

"**Are you okay?!"** He asked, running his hand over the side of her face. She smiled lightly, moving lightly, and tensing, falling back over,

"**I'm fine…except my side. I think I bruised something."** She clutched her ribs, and looked up as the men who'd come with them began to speak,

**"****I never knew. Your daughter's amazing."** Master Yu breathed, as Toph finished off the last assailant, the announcer.

XOXO

The kids had actually enjoyed themselves cooking. Apparently, doing something helpful for a change was surprisingly fun. After the noodles and pigchicken had finished cooking, they even helped set the table. Even Acario had started to slow down with his whining.

**"You guys want to have pictures in the noodles?"**

The younger kids, who had just entered the kitchen with Zuko, looked at her wide-eyed.

**"You can do that?"** asked Wahib.

**"Well, sure. They're not perfect or anything but they're kind of funny."**

She gestured at Zuko.

**"I made him a rather amusing picture with noodles one time. He didn't take the joke so well but I thought it was hilarious myself."  
**  
Zuko narrowed his eyes and glared at her while the older kids smirked a bit.

In the end, Kali ended up making noodle pictures for everyone but herself and Zuko. Xan, to her great annoyance, asked her smugly for a picture of herself, which she drew frowning heavily up at him. The twins asked for pictures of Zuko just to annoy him. Acario followed suit. Achyuta and Wahib decided they wanted Raghnalli and Sofi wanted her platypus teddy. Dinner was going along fine (not counting Wahib and Sofi's non-stop question-asking, Xan's sufferance from the same 'wandering eye' syndrome Miki from Haruka's hotel had displayed, and Kali's discoverance that Weema was a biter while she was trying to feed the three babies), until the twins got into an argument over something and started a food fight. Before Kali and Zuko knew what had hit them, there was a glob of sauce spread across Zuko's angry face and noodles in her hair. Kali tried to stop it while Zuko disappeared outside, muttering as he passed her that he was going to go 'let some more steam off.'

**"Thanks a lot,"** she frowned as sauce sprayed across her face.

By the end of the meal, food had been splattered all over the kitchen and everyone in it, including Raghnalli, who'd reluctantly accepted that Kali and Zuko were the authorities for the time being when they'd been the ones to feed her. The kids, originally all angry with each other and shouting during the fight, had fallen into fits of giggles eventually from looking at how silly each other looked. Even the babies seemed happy. While slightly pleased things had resolved alright as far as the kids' happiness was concerned, Kali was nonetheless starting to feel like she should join Zuko outside in letting off some steam. Instead, she ordered the kids to all clean off and get dressed for bed, meeting a variety of groans and moans.

**"Relax, I'm not making you actually go to bed yet. I'm just asking that you take turns scrubbing the food off yourselves and get dressed in the clothes you sleep in so I can wash the pile of clothes you guys just covered in noodles and sauce. After that, you can come back downstairs if you want and figure out something fun to do that doesn't involve getting dirty again."**

There was much delaying and whining, from Acario especially, but once Zuko came back in and gave them an award winning scowl to accompany Kali's firm words and threat to put an end to fun for the night if they didn't head on up, they complied. While the kids were upstairs, Zuko became educated in the art of dish-washing while Kali worked the scrub the kitchen down a bit. Hearing Sofi and Wahib call for her, she took the three babies (she'd found a pair of slings and a backpack of sorts that allowed her to carry all three) and went upstairs to help them bathe while Zuko learned how to mop. She almost felt like he was one of the spoiled kids, seeing as how he'd never really had to do a chore in his life either. He wasn't having as much as fun as they had with cooking though.

Helping the little kids wash was yet another strange, new experience that left Kali uncomfortable, but, soon enough, all the kids were clean and dressed in sleeping clothes. Kali and Zuko were left as the only ones who still looked like someone had bombed them with as many horrible things to be covered in as possible, but the kitchen was relatively clean now too. There was still a lot of cleaning left to be done but they left that for after the kids were in their beds. After much bickering over what game to play, the kids split into older and younger factions. Zuko found himself playing Hide-and-Seek in the house with the older ones while Kali played Turtleduck-Turtleduck-Cowgoose! with the younger ones. She had to admit, when they were all having fun, the kids were all pretty cute, even the older ones. Most of them had dark brown hair, except for Sofi and Achyuta, who had sandy hair. The twins, Acario, and two of the babies had hazel eyes while the rest had dark brown eyes. All of them had rather nice faces and Kali could see both the father and mother in each of them if she looked closely enough. After they finished with their games, Kali told them a couple stories she'd heard during her travels and then she and Zuko escorted them all to their beds. Xan puckered up for a good night kiss, but Kali told him Zuko saved those for only special occasions. Once they were all taken care of, Kali and Zuko collapsed at the bottom of the stairs for a minute, staring at the messy living room.

**"I never thought it would be this bad,"** Zuko said quietly.

Kali looked at him, gave a half-hearted smile.  
**  
"Could have been a lot worse. At least they settled down and listened to us for the most part after dinner."  
**  
Zuko gave her a skeptical look then got up as she stood and cracked her back, then moaned.

**"Those twins got me pretty good earlier. They've got some real talent. They're gonna be a tough pair of earthbenders when they're older."**

Zuko said nothing and took a couple of steps farther into the room.

**"So where do we start?"**

"I'll take the vomit if you'll take the dirt. Which would you prefer?"  
He shrugged.

**"Dirt it is, then,"** she said to him and went to get a towel to clean the couch with.

XOXO

"**She's the greatest earthbender I've ever seen!"** Master Yu breathed, on the way home. Masami was able to walk for the most part, it didn't feel good, but she could deal. Aang helped her along, back towards Toph's house. As they arrived, they were all seated, and Masami was glad to be able to sit.

_**"**_**Dad, I know it's hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. I love being an earthbender. And I'm really, really good at it. I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me. But I'm twelve years old and I've never had a real friend. So now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me."** Toph said to her father, hanging her head lightly.

**"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something."** Her father said. Masami didn't like where this was going, her father didn't seem like the understanding type.

"**It has?"** She asked, hopefully.

**"Yes. I've let you have far too much freedom. From now on, you will be cared for and guarded 24 hours a day."** He said. Masami's head snapped up and she sent a strong glare towards the family that seemed to go unnoticed. That wasn't fair. At all.

**"But dad!"** Toph protested.

**"We are doing this for your own good, Toph."** Her mother assured. Masami scoffed silently.

**"Please escort the Avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here."**

_**"**_**I'm sorry, Toph." **Aang said sadly.

"**I'm sorry, too. Good bye, Aang."** She responded. Masami looked at her, smiling lightly,

"**Thank you for helping us get him back, you really are a great bender."** She said sadly as well. Toph smiled lightly, brushing a falling tear off her face,

"**Thanks."** Toph stated as they left. Once back to Appa, everyone was rather silent.

**"Don't worry. We'll find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there."** Sokka said, Aang didn't look up from helping Masami. Aang stared lightly out from Appa's saddle as Masami struggled to get comfortable, and Sokka cleaned the tournament belt. They all looked up as someone came running towards them, they could hear the panting.

**"Toph! What are you doing here?"** Aang asked, looking out of the saddle.

**"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world."** She lied through her teeth.

**"Well, we'd better get out of here – before your dad changes his mind again."** Sokka said with a grin.

"**Good idea."**

**"You're gonna be a great teacher, Toph."** Aang said happily. And, Masami wasn't going to complain about having another girl around.

**"Speaking of which, I want to show you something."** Toph spoke with a grin.

**"Okay."** Aang agreed, hopping out of the saddle. As he landed on the ground, a rock erupted from beneath him, sending him flying into a tree with a shout. Despite the act startling her, she giggled lightly, regretting it quickly, holding her side.

_**"**_**Now we're even."** She smiled.

_**"**_**Um, I'll take the belt back."** She said to Sokka, who sighed, and dropped it off the side of Appa, only to have it land on her.

"**Ow!"** She cried.

"**Sorry."** Sokka cried, not sounding terribly sincere. Masami looked up as Aang fell out of the tree, landing in a heap on the ground, rolling her eyes. This was going to be a long trip, but having another person around never hurt.

XOXO

By the time they finished cleaning the downstairs, the moon was high and the babies were awake and crying again. They needed their diapers changed. Kali made sure to let Zuko take Rafu this time, after explaining to him how to put diapers on. No sooner had Zuko disposed of the dirty diaper, he was sprayed, blinded as Kali had been before him. She recoiled a bit from the grossness but couldn't suppress a giggle which came out just a bit too loud due to an edge of borderline delirium she was experiencing after the day's stress.

"**STOP IT!!!!!"** yelled Zuko loudly.

"**Zuko, I mean Lee, "inside voice", alright?! People are trying or, at least, are supposed to be trying to sleep here."  
**

"**THIS IS MY INSIDE VOICE!"  
**

"**Well then tone your "inside voice" down to about a tenth of its current volume, "** she snapped.

Once they finished fixing the babies up and finally got all but one back to sleep, Zuko left to take a quick shower to wash off the day's various lubricants. Kali cradled Weema, who had now left several bite marks on her in various places (one set rather unfortunately located on her neck from when she'd been burping the child), and sang to her softly. The child was nearly asleep at the time Zuko left and drifted off right around the time he came back, freshly cleaned and wearing just pants.

"**They better not wake up again,"** he growled.

"**They're babies, Zuko. The odds are they will."  
**

"**Well, I'm going to bed. Where is it?"  
**

"**The butler told me we're to take the bed that belonged to the two nannies they used to have. That would be this bed right here,"** she frowned, indicating a double bed to the right of the babies' cradles. Zuko groaned and climbed in as she started to walk away.  
"It's my turn to shower now. Did you put your dirty clothes in the heap with the kids?"  
She saw him give what she assumed was a nod as he took the side farthest away from the babies and turned away. She took some fresh clothes, walked into the upstairs bathroom, grabbed some towels and a washcloth from the little closet in the bathroom, and began to take what felt like the most cleansing shower she'd ever taken.

She was in the midst of cleaning her hair when she felt a sudden draft and knew someone was in the bathroom with her. She peaked around the curtain, silently swearing to slap Zuko silly if it was him. To her confusion, there was no one there but the door was clearly open. She peaked around the other side of the curtain. Still no one.

"**Hello?"**

Scowling as she received no answer, she finished cleaning her hair, turned off the water, and reached for her towels. Wrapping herself in them, she darted forward to close the door. She looked around suspiciously but, seeing no one, she decided some one must have either been messing with her or had opened the door then changed their mind. Like Sofi or someone. She began to get dressed and was startled to hear a slight hissing sound issuing from the closet. She paused, then narrowed her eyes, and hastily pulled the towel back over her still upper naked half. She walked over to the closet quietly then yanked it open, causing Xan to fall out of it.

"**What the HELL?!"** she snarled, blushing, as he picked himself up and smiled a huge smug grin.

"**I told you you'd look hot without so many clothes and scum on you. I dig the scars too by the way. They're kinda sexy in a kinky way."**

"**GET THE FUCK OUT!!!"** She yelled, clinging to the towel mercilessly as she strove to restrain herself from knocking his head off. The little pervert started back a bit from her fierce outburst but still managed to retain enough gall to say,

"**Awww, c'mon!" **

She pulled her fist back, ready to hit him, but Zuko beat her to it. The door banged open, slamming into Xan's head brutally. Behind it stood Zuko looking ready to kill somebody (though the baby he was cuddling in one hand took away from the menacing look a bit). His face was a death scowl, with his cheeks gone red with rage (as well as perhaps from blushing as once again he found Kali holding a towel in front of herself) and steam rose from his nostrils and mouth. He hauled the groaning Xan up and shoved him out the door.

"**Get…back…to bed,"** he snarled through gritted teeth while Kali glared at Xan with an equally fierce expression. Xan, recognizing that he was in peril, scrambled away back to his bed. Zuko closed the door for Kali. When she emerged, he was in the babies' room and still red, but she thought more so now from the blushing. She strolled in and took the wailing baby from him to cuddle it.

"**Sorry for bursting in like that," **he muttered**, "I saw him sneak by our room after you'd gone. When I heard you yell, I figured he must have walked in on you…"** He looked away awkwardly.

"**Thanks. I could've taken care of it but, somehow, the door slamming against his skull was almost more satisfying to me than I think punching him would have been. Plus the look on his face when he saw the look on yours was pretty priceless. I still want to punch him though."**

"**You'll probably get your chance,"** grumbled Zuko, getting into the bed again.

"**Speaking of chances, I'm gonna go do our laundry now while I have the chance,"** yawned Kali, **"You alright with handling things up here for now?"**

"**Sure." **

Sofi appeared in the hall as Kali began to leave.

"**Can I sweep wif you guys tonight? Tere's a monstew undew my bed…"** she said, a couple tears starting to fall down her face. Kali sighed tiredly and glanced back at Zuko, who looked up irritably.

"**Sure, Sofi. I'll be right back. I'm going to do the laundry right now. You go ahead and get in with Lee. He'll protect you."**

Sofi looked at Zuko uneasily then nodded.

"**M'kay."  
**

By the time Kali got back from the laundry, Zuko was snoring softly and Sofi was cuddled up next to him hugging her platypus teddy. She couldn't help but smile. It was a cute scene and strange to see Zuko actually looking sweet in a way with his arm around the little girl huddled up to him. One of the babies cried a bit and she picked it up and carried it with her as she lay down next to Zuko with Sofi snuggled in between them. She stroked the crying baby until it started to calm down and leaned in towards Zuko and Sofi, as the bed was small for the three of them to fit in, even wit h the baby lying on top of her. She wondered if she'd get to sleep any at all tonight as she stared up at the ceiling.

XOXO

The group fled, flying silently on Appa. Masami lay on her side, sleeping lightly as they stopped for the night. Toph and Sokka hopped groggily out of the saddle atop Appa, and Sokka rolled out his sleeping bag, and Toph stomped, making a tent of her own. Masami sat up slowly, and she moved to crawl out of the saddle when Aang grabbed her elbow,

"**Let me help."** He said with a smile. She smiled back lightly, and nodded. He wrapped a surprisingly strong arm around her waist and he got her to the edge of the saddle, and he left her side to slide down before her, and he then held his arms out to help her slide down. As she got towards the ground, he lifted her small frame the rest of the way, shocking her again,

"**Oh!"** She said quietly with a startled smile. He smiled back, and he moved them away from Sokka and Toph's already exhausted forms. He laid her down, and he went back to Appa to get their blankets, and to remove his saddle. Momo flew off Appa, and he landed near Masami, chittering at her with a vigor the rest of the group lacked. She held her hand out to him, and he searched for food as he so often did with her, and everyone. Momo would be Momo. She looked up as Aang came back, and laid himself on the ground, scooting close to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her to him, resting his head in the crook of her neck.

"**You didn't have to do that."** He breathed. She smiled, and kissed the side of his head,

"**Yes I did."** He closed his eyes, and he moved his face up to look at her, and he smiled lightly,

"**I guess then, thanks is in order."** He whispered, their faces nearly touching. Masami smiled, and she wouldn't object. He closed the distance between them, his lips caressing hers lightly, he ran tongue along her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth slowly. His hands, for the first time, began to wander a bit. He touched her hip, and he was very gentle as he moved up, avoid her ribs as much as he could. He moved one hand up into her hair, and they kept their lips locked until they needed air. Aang broke off, and he opened his eyes, kissing her fore head, and pulling her closer still, which she didn't know was possible. As they began to doze off, he muttered something she couldn't quite catch, but that was alright with her, she was just happy to be back in his arms.

XOXO

They didn't get much sleep that night between the babies crying and Sofi kicking and crying in her sleep. The next three days passed by terribly slowly for Kali and Zuko. Xan, fortunately, had decided his previous antics were too hazardous to his health and left off on hitting on Kali, who scowled at him frequently. Zuko also seemed to be keeping a close eye on him as well, scowling fiercely whenever he caught Xan's eye. Xan kept his distance. Wahida and Wahiba didn't act nearly as bad as they had on the first day but Kali and Zuko still frequently found themselves covered in mud from head to foot by the end of the day, along with the house. Acario's whining continued brutally, covering all manner of subjects, from chickensheep to lampshades to old people. Kali was forced to go to the market to find a merchant to sell her herbs she couldn't find around the house to cure Achyuta's various needs. Despite her best efforts, he still suffered and consequently she and Zuko did as well. His allergies, especially, began acting up near the end of the second day and, thus, she and Zuko went with almost no sleep since they now had to tend to the night time needs of the babies, Sofi, Achyuta, and Wahib. Their bed became increasing crowded and Kali frequently found herself nearly falling out of the bed as Achyuta sneezed in her face and Sofi woke up crying about a demon saber-toothed moose-lion chasing her. Wahib had joined them in their bed an hour or so before the first night ended and now slept on top of one of them, hugging them tightly. He was undoubtedly the neediest five year old she'd ever met. During the day, he was attached to one of them constantly and sat right next to them during meals, insisting on holding hands with at least one of them. Sofi was a good little girl overall, apart from crying all the time. Unfortunately, she took offense really easily and raised voices always upset her. Thus, Zuko eventually learned to let Kali escort Sofi from the room before he used his angry "inside voice." The bite marks from Weema increased and spread to Zuko. By the end of the second day, both Kali and Zuko had learned to take great precautions when handling her. Iti, who it turned out had gotten sick not too long before the parents left, was constantly in need of comforting. Rafu continued to pee on them whenever they changed his diaper, though they learned to sidestep it after the first couple of instances.

Kali took advantage of the spark of curiosity the kids had all shown when it came to cooking. After some baiting and urging, they consented to let her introduce all of them (including Zuko, who she and the kids forced to wear a bright pink apron they'd found, as well as a chef's hat whenever the kids weren't wearing it themselves) to cooking the different meals of the day. The second day, she made them pancakes in the morning and the next couple of days they all got up a bit earlier just to learn how to make pancakes and waffles, as well as to fry turkeybacon and cook chickensheep eggs. In the afternoons and evenings, she taught the older ones about making soups, more noodles, and cooking different meats. It kept them occupied and out of trouble and they seemed to enjoy it. She even taught the girls and younger ones to make cookies (Xan, Acario, and Zuko all skipped that one, evidently not viewing it as a manly enough activity). Gradually, Kali came to the conclusion the kids weren't quite as bad as they had first appeared. Sure they were a pain and a hassle to handle often, but, with the exception of Xan and Acario, she kind of liked them now that they were starting to listen to her a bit more and she actually got to have some fun with them. It was just their problems she didn't like.

They spent much of the second day exploring and playing on the vast property located behind the house. Raghnalli had her babies and became even more territorial, much to Kali's chagrin since she had to be extra careful to keep the kids away from her. They spent a lot of time chasing the wild hog monkeys about, with Kali worriedly trying to keep the boys from getting themselves attacked.

They went to the town the third day, just to give them something new to do. Acario had mentioned something about how he hated that they hadn't gone to the town's small zoo in a while at some point during his rants, so they'd headed off to the town with the twins and Xan leading to way to where the zoo was. Acario had complained about walking the whole way. People had stopped and stared at the odd troop of kids. They'd looked like an entire orphanage had run away from some place, since Zuko, the eldest, was only 16. Kali and Zuko spent much of the journey to the zoo retrieving the various kids as they had the tendency to wander away from the group to look at things or talk to people. Once they'd gotten to the zoo, all hell had broken loose when the twins, as a prank, had let loose all the animals. Sofi, caught up in a fit of compassion for some of the smaller and cuter caged animals, had helped as well. Kali and Zuko had been forced to round them up with the help of the boys, Kali finally pressuring the twins with threats of going straight to bed after dinner into helping undo their own prank. Their earthbending helped considerably. The zoo-keeper told them he never wanted to see any of them around again and shooed them away, after which Kali suggested they all have a look around the town since the kids had shown interest in it the last time they'd passed through. Evidently, they'd been to the town very rarely and, when they had, they'd been riding in a carriage of sorts and so hadn't really seen it. The trip around town had ended abruptly when Wahib had started loudly asking Zuko why the man with the ponytail on the wanted poster looked kind of like him.

The fourth day, with Zuko well past the end of his rope and Kali beginning to reach the end of hers finally from the lack of sleep, constant hassles, and ridiculous stress of taking care of ten kids, a house, and an alligator hound with babies, was difficult to begin with. The two 'adults', as the others had begun calling them, had moved sluggishly and as little as possible, content to leave the house a mess for the parents to have cleaned up when they got back, and had insisted on the not being included in as many games as possible. It was a dark, stormy day outside so everyone stayed inside. Sofi, Wahib, Achyuta, the babies, and even Acario all stayed very close to them the whole day out of fear of the storm. Even the twins and Xan got scared once the storm got really bad, with the sounds of the house being battered getting increasingly louder. Half way through the day, realizing that Ragnalli and her puppies were still outside, Kali opened the door and went out to try to coax her to bring them inside with her. After much urging from her and much hesitation, snapping, and snarling on Ragnalli's part, Ragnalli finally gained some common sense as to where her puppies would be safer and came inside. Kali and Zuko couldn't wait for the parents to get home. Unfortunately, the day wore on, lunch came and went, dinner came and went, and still no sign of them. It became time to sleep and stilll, no Mr. and Mrs. Ying. No housekeepers, cooks, or butlers either. Realizing finally that they weren't coming back today, Kali and Zuko took turns leaving the kids to go upstairs under the pretense of needing something in order to scream into pillows and explode in flames and do other various acts which were unfit for the childrens' eyes. The kids didn't seem to mind the lack of parents but they were terrified to go upstairs and separate into their rooms now that the storm was really roaring outside. All of them ended up spending the night in the living room on the floor with tons of pillows and blankets draped over them. Kali comforted the babies and Achyuta the entire night while Zuko held Sofi and Wahib. The others were crowded as close to them as possible and the sound of heavy breathing filling the room could be heard occasionally beneath the sounds of the storm. The sounds and the darkness reminded Kali of the night she'd been trapped outside in the storm that had killed Masami's family, as well as the storm that had sent Zuko overboard into the ocean and Kali in after him.

The next day, the butler, Egil, came by and explained to them that, due to the storm, the Yings had been delayed and thus would be arriving late that evening. That was also his reason for why none of the servants had returned, including himself, though all of them lived relatively close by. He stated that he and the rest of the staff would return as soon as they received word the Yings had returned. It took all the remaining willpower Kali had left to keep Zuko (and herself) from throttling the man. It also took a fair amount of physical strength when it came to stopping Zuko.

It was not long after they'd finished lunch and Kali was upstairs changing Iti's diaper (Iti had gotten much better since Kali had started sharing some of Achyuta's herbs with her and was almost back to being a normal healthy baby) when she heard an enormous set of crashes from downstairs. She rushed to the stairs to find the children and Zuko surrounded by none other than the Fearsome Five.

XOXO

The next morning, the foursome decided that they needed more supplies and Masami seeing a doctor couldn't hurt once they actually got a look at the marks on her sides. She'd never been that bruised in her life, but she knew they need to keep moving.

"**Don't worry about me."** She urged. She knew she'd get over it eventually, but Aang wouldn't hear of it.

"**Masami, we have time to stop, and we're going to stop."** He said, holding her up, looking her straight in the eyes. With the look he gave her, she wasn't going to argue. She sighed, and she let him help her back to Appa, where they made for a near by town. As they landed, Toph and Sokka went to get some supplies for their travel time, and Aang took Masami to look for a doctor of some sort. The closest thing they were able to find was a healer, which sounded a bit less scary then a doctor. Before they went into the building, Aang slipped his hat on he'd worn during Avatar Day, and he helped her through the door.

"**Welcome Children." **An old woman behind a small table spoke as they entered,

"**Hi..we were wonder if you could heal my friend, she fell out of a tree."** Aang improvised. It was more of a believable story then a girl of her size taking on a wrestler in defense of the Avatar.

"**How unfortunate. Of course, bring her this way."** The lady said, standing slowly. She led the way towards a small room in the back of the little house. There was a few cushions on the floor, and there was a mat. Masami was helped to the mat, and Aang moved to one of the cushions right behind the mat, looking back at them for a second,

"**Oh! Masami, I can leave if you want!"** He said, starting to rise respectfully.

"**That's alright Aang. Please stay."** She said, wincing as she rolled over lightly. He nodded, and he sat again, taking the hand she reached out to him.

XOXO

Kali froze for a moment on the stairs before leaping over them to land next to Zuko between the terrified children and the five rhino riders, taking a fighting stance.

**"We heard this family is the one of the richest in the Earth Kingdom and came here intending to make them one of the richest patrons of the Fire Nation's military,"** smirked Feather Man, **"But it seems we'll not only be gaining some new supporters once we get these children but gaining the bounty from the price on your heads. You won't escape this time, prince and wench!"  
**  
The kids looked up a Zuko (who would have already launched an attack on them had it not been for the children attached to him) and Kali, confused as it was obvious the man was talking to them. Kali looked down at Wahib and Sofi.

**"Wahib,"** she said in a soft but firm voice, **"You and Sofi are going to need to let go of Lee…who's real name is Zuko, now, okay? We'll explain things after this. Xan,"** she looked at him sharply, **"You and Wahida and Wahiba keep everyone together while we keep them busy. I want you guys to get to a safe place, alright?"**

The stunned Xan and twins nodded and took the younger childrens' hands. Kali's thoughts went to the babies but she decided that, since the riders didn't know about them being upstairs, it would be best for now to leave them be. She turned back to face the riders. Zuko tossed off his hat and fake bangs. They'd had had it up to here. They'd spent the past few days exhausted, dirty, overworked, pounded with rocks, constantly pestered, and stressed. And the damned parents hadn't even come back when they said they would and now they were being attacked by these assholes again?! In the back of her mind, she was almost glad they'd shown up. Something to take out all the frustration on. They didn't wait for the enemies to attack this time. Zuko hurled himself towards the firebender, creating a fiery slice in the air with his fist as he did so. Kali singled out the archer, jumping off the rhino's horn to land directly in front of him, avoiding his first arrow, then cutting through his bow with fire, rendering him relatively helpless. Seeing the chain-slinger heading after the children, who were running towards the back door, she ran after him and swung her hands forward in huge arches, slicing the ends off his chains with flames and getting his attention. She ran up the back of the sluggish Komodo rhino directly towards him, blocking the chains with fire. Once she reached him, she smashed her foot into his face sideways the way she'd seen Zuko do so many times in combat, knocking him off the rhino. Meanwhile, Zuko had temporarily dispatched Feather Man and was dodging the halberd's attacks. Meanwhile,three of the Komodo rhinos were now charging directly towards her and the one she was on had just busted through the kitchen wall, causing her to jump down from it. She created a wall of fire between her and the rhinos that was a few feet high, causing the unmanned one to turn back while the two ridden by Archer and Explosive Man were urged on by their riders. She was forced to jump out of the way as they busted through the kitchen and into the backyard heading towards…the kids!

Kali dashed out to find the kids by the pond backing away from the advancing rhinos. Archer, despite the loss of his bow, was still threatening with a pair of knives he'd drawn and Explosive Man was preparing to toss a set of explosives at them. Kali sped towards them, an idea of how to get past them to the kids suddenly popping to her head. She just hoped it worked. She jumped into the air and aimed a two-handed fire blast at the ground, hoping to propel herself over the rhinos. It worked. But it worked too well. She soared startlingly high and suddenly remembered how much she hated great heights. Her fear was overridden by determination to protect the kids as she saw the explosives thrown at them. She punched down a couple shots at the explosives, managing to stop from them from reaching the kids, then realized she was about to fall directly into the pond. She tried the jet tactic again, hoping she didn't mess up too terribly this time. She flew back over the kids, who stared at her in amazement, and, clenching her teeth tightly to keep from screaming, landed directly on top of Archer. They both fell to the ground, knocking him out in the process. Meanwhile, they were joined by Zuko, Feather Man, and Halberd in the backyard. The two unmanned rhinos lumbered off somewhere while Kali turned to face Halberd, who was advancing on her. Feeling much more daring than she had last time (mainly due to the abrupt last-chance energy rush she was getting in response to the fight and the lack of better judgement due to her lack of sleep), she charged him, dodging his weapon while drawing her swords, then jumping on to the back of his rhino. She stumbled a little as the rhino thrashed a bit, but managed to keep her footing as she fended off Halberd and advanced on him, finally managing to knock him off the rhino. As she jumped down and he began to rise, two rocks smashed into his head from both directions, knocking him out. She looked at the twins who looked back at her uneasily.

**"Thanks,"** she smiled gratefully, then looked at where Zuko was still fighting Feather Man.

They were close to the kids, which she already didn't like, but even worse was that Explosive Man was coming at Zuko from behind and had thrown a bomb right beside him.

**"Watch out!"** she shouted and flung herself to push the startled Zuko away from the exploding bomb. He opened his mouth to shout in surprise but never got to. As they landed, their mouths collided and Kali experienced the sudden, new sensation of a tongue being in her mouth that wasn't hers. Their tongues slid together into each others' mouths and their lips touched, albeit in a violent, rough sort of manner since Kali was landing on top of Zuko. The fight went to the back of her mind for a moment as she and Zuko stared at each other wide-eyed and she felt her insides all tighten together throughout her body, as if they were expecting to somehow squeeze out of her. Then it was over, as each tongue withdrew hastily into its own mouth and the lips were quickly unlocked, both pairs shouting something to the effect of "Iiiick!" or "Aaagghh!" She could hear the twins giggling and the little ones asking why they were giggling. She and Zuko blushed brightly before being forced to regain their composure as Explosive Man and Feather Man threw a bomb and fire at them. Together they blocked the explosion and swapped enemies, Kali lunging for Feather Man and Zuko darting forward to destroy Explosive Man's explosives. Zuko destroyed the bag of explosives while Kali jumped to the side of Feather Man and bounced off a rock toward him. Then both of them simultaneously kicked their opponents in the face, knocking them off their steads into each other and ending the fight.

Kali and Zuko looked around at the wreckage of the house and land, then looked at each other, blushing again. Their intense awkwardness was interrupted by Wahib shouting **"YOU GUYS ARE FIREBENDERS!"** excitedly and the sound of Mr. Ying on the other side of the house yelling, **"WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR HOUSE?!" **

XOXO

Masami sat up slightly, and she looked to the lady, who told them to call her Marchuta. She nodded,

"**Alright dear, show me where we should be looking."** She said, kneeling with a bowl of water, her back to Aang. Masami sat up, and she began to untie her rob. She sighed, and winced as she moved back to shrugging off the rob, laying clad in only her under shirt, which she had to tug up further to show the nasty blackish blue bruise on her side. Marchuta tsked,

"**You have to be more careful dear."** She said, pressing lightly on the bruise. Masami tensed, squeezing Aang's hand. She furrowed her brow, holding tighter, trying to roll away from the pain. As she did, she rolled towards Aang, and he could see straight down the front of the low cut shirt. Aang's hand came to brush her bangs from her forehead, and his eyes went down her shirt. He swallowed hard, and he tried to look away.

"**Well, good news."** Machuta said, startling Aang,

"**I ! ER what?"** He stuttered, looking at her, his face flushed,

"**It just feels like a nasty bruise, nothing broken."** She said with a kind smile. Masami breathed lightly,

"**That's good news."** She said, her eyes opening lightly. She looked up at Aang's flushed face, and she looked down at herself, and she could trace his eye's path. She felt the sides of her mouth twitch into a smile,

"**Good news, yes Aang?"** She said with a smirk. He nodded fast, saying nothing. The woman brought the water to her side, and she shivered at how cold it was. She relaxed as told to, and she let Machuta take her time with her side. The pain began to ease, and was soon nearly gone. She looked down, and she could see a nasty mark still, but she felt better, and she looked up at her,

"**Thank you."** She said, Machuta nodded,

"**Glad to help."** As Masami sat up slowly, and pulled on her robe again, but not tying it up all the way. Masami stood, and Machuta led the way from her work space. She sat herself behind the same table, and she pulled a basket from behind her, pulling some plants from it, crushing them, and mixing them with a bit of water, and draining it, with almost one smooth motion.

"**Use this before you sleep if you start to feel in pain. Add a bit of water, and it should get a bit gritty. Rub in along the bruise, but you shouldn't have to do this more then once or twice."** Machuta said with a smile. Masami bowed lightly, in thanks. They paid Machuta and they left. As they moved back towards Appa, they intertwined their hands,

"**Thank you for taking me Aang."** Masami said with a smile, leaning over to kiss his cheek. He blushed,

"**No problem."** He said with a smile, stepping closer,

"**I'm glad you're feeling better."** He said, leaning back towards her.

"**Me too! And inside, I was beginning to think you were sick too, you looked a little flushed."** She said with a smirk as his face when back to a fair shade of red, as she moved off with a giggle.

XOXO

Kali and Zuko exchanged uneasy glances as the kids all ran up to them.

**"Why didn't you say you were firebenders?"  
**  
**"I hate it when people don't tell me the truth!"**

"Who are you really?"

"What'd they mean by 'prince'?"

"You guys aren't gonna hurt us, are you?"

Sofi tugged on Kali's pants leg.

**"Does this mean we don't have the same name?"** she asked, tears in her eyes. Kali looked down at the child sadly.

**"My real name's Kali,"** she replied, **"Sofia was my mother's name...but she went by Sofi, just like you."**

"Really?"

**"Yes,"** Kali smiled down at her slightly, helping to avert the little girl's tears.

She looked at the others.

**"Our real names are Kali and Zuko,"** she gestured to Zuko, **"He's a banished prince and I'm the person who used to be his cook but now essentially operates as, well, like a baby-sitter for him."  
**  
Zuko shot her an annoyed scowl.

**"We're refugees from the Fire Nation so that's why we didn't tell any of you guys who we were. We didn't want people to find out and try to capture us like these guys just did, "** she gestured at the unconscious Fire Nation soldiers, **"I'm sorry for deceiving you. It was the best choice we had though."**

Xan looked at Zuko, awareness and fear suddenly dawning in his eyes.

**"You're that prince who's been hunting down the Avatar! The one who's been chasing him all over the world."**

Zuko looked down at him sharply as Xan backed away, frightened. The twins seemed to understand the implications as well and drew back as well. Kali felt pained to see the fear on their faces, knowing it was directed at Zuko and herself.

**"We're not hear to hurt anyone. All we want to get paid for taking care of you guys and move on. That's the only reason we're here,"** she said, trying to comfort them.

Just then, the Yings and their servants appeared from the house, staring horrified at the knocked out Fire Nation soldiers.

**"What's going on here?!"**

Kali looked back at them and started to explain but Xan quickly cut in, running to his parents along with the twins.

**"They're firebenders!"** he exclaimed, pointing at Zuko and Kali, **"That one's the Fire Prince everybody's been hearing about who's chasing the Avatar!"**

Zuko started forward angrily but Kali quickly held her hand out to block him.

**"Zuko, calm down,"** she whispered, "**He's just a kid and he's scared."**

She moved forward instead, with Sofi still holding on to her and Wahib clinging to her leg again.

**"Please, we're not here to cause any problems. All we want to be paid and to move on,"** she gestured at the soldiers, **"They came here to attack your household and children and, since we were here, us as well. We stopped them as best as we could. I'm sorry for the damage they did to your house but I'm sure it's better than the alternative. May we please just get our money and leave now?"**

Mr. Ying frowned.

**"No,"** he said, **"We'll not pay you one copper piece!"**

Kali started to protest angrily.  
**  
"What?! How can you do that?! We completed our part of the deal just as you asked! You promised us 80 gold pieces for watching your children and keeping them safe and they're just fine."  
**  
Mr. Ying looked at her furiously, fear thinly veiled beneath the anger in his eyes.

**"You deceived us! You're not to be trusted and therefore, we'll not pay you for taking over our house and holding our children captives! Who knows what you might have done to them while we were gone! And, besides that, you RUINED our house!! Leave immediately!"**

That was enough for Zuko, who angrily stormed forward to get right into Mr. Ying's face.

**"We just spent the past four days in HELL because of your children!! We didn't have to put up with all this shit but we did, because she said-"** he gestured at Kali, **"we had to do things the nice way! YOU WILL PAY US!!"**

Fire flared from his arms as he gestured fiercely and Mr. Ying stumbled back in fear while his wife clutched him, terrified. Seeing the terror in their faces, Kali felt pained, sickened. She thought of the first time she'd ever used firebending in an Earth Kingdom village and what had happened. The children in the village had been mean to her, because she was a lone, homeless child passing through at the time. They had teased her, called her names, and tormented her incessantly until she'd had enough and exploded. Literally, to a certain degree. She unintentionally burned three out of the five of them badly and caused them to cry and run away in fear. Horrified at her mistake, she'd tried to apologize but had been chased from the village viciously, with stones thrown at her and pitchforks brandished. It was memories like that which had led to her to become so cautious and controlled in her firebending in the first place. Angry as she was at these people for going back on their word, she couldn't stand to let Zuko terrify them so.

**"Zuko,"** she frowned, walking forward to put a hand on his shoulder and keeping her voice as calm as possible**, "Don't threaten them. Like I said earlier, we don't want to hurt anybody."**

He looked back at her from his angry fighting position, snarling in a low voice threw clenched teeth.

**"We don't?"**

**"No. All we want is to be paid what we earned,"** she looked back at the Yings, startled to see them fleeing, abandoning their children in the yard to join the servants in the house. Mr. Ying turned to shout back at them.

**"If you firebenders don't leave right now, we'll have the servants alert the town and the authorities. We'll see you both captured and jailed for your crimes!"**

Zuko flared up again.

**"GET BACK HERE!!"** he shouted and took off towards them, steam and flames both coming from his nostrils, his muscles tensed for an impending attack.

**"Sofi, Wahib, I need you to let go NOW!"** shouted Kali, desperate to stop him, though a part of her wanted to teach the Yings a lesson as much as he did. The children obeyed, looking as horrified as their parents, and Kali chased Zuko, throwing herself at him from behind to just barely manage to tackle his legs. He fell to the ground then turned on her.

**"WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING THEM?!! We just wasted four days taking care of their rotten, horrible little brats for them non-stop and now you're going to defend them when they won't even fucking pay us?!!!"  
**  
All the children gathered around their parents, seeking protection. Kali stared, horrified to see the hurt and terror in their eyes Zuko had just inflicted on them with his last statement. She met Zuko's eyes then.

**"Sometimes people do the wrong thing out of fear or anger or both, " she said, in a quiet but seething voice, "We all do it. Even though they're wronging us right now by breaking their deal, it'd be far worse for us to actually harm them. To burn them or strike them, in front of their children no less. We can get by without the money for now. We'll survive until we can get another job. Let's just get out of here before we get attacked by an entire village."**

**"Please?"** she added, looking him right in the eyes sadly and tightening her grip on his shoulder. He stared at her for a bit longer, then the look of wild fury in his eyes died a bit and he looked down, spewing fire from his mouth, his fists clenched so tightly they shook. He knocked against her shoulder as he stormed stiffly towards the Ying family and servants, forcing his way through them as they all jumped to move aside to let him pass through the front door. Kali followed, glaring fiercely at Mr. and Mrs. Ying. She started to go by them then stopped. It wasn't just the money that was bothering her, though she was plenty pissed about that.

**"You really should take better care of your children, "** she stated quietly, malice clear in her voice, **"They're not the easiest bunch but, for the most part, they're good kids really. Just need more attention. The babies are upstairs. You'll find herbs for Achyuta in one of the cabinets in the kitchen. You should keep a better stock of them for the poor kid. And you need to help Sofi deal with her nightmares. She told me she usually can't sleep at all in the night cause she's too scared monsters will get her and when she does sleep and wakes up from nightmares, nobody ever comes when she calls. She needs you."  
**  
Kali leaned in closer to them.

**"Pay attention to your children, "** she growled, **"They're a helluva lot more important than your damn house or your other riches. And if you don't want to risk having firebenders watching you kids, stop asking RANDOM STRANGERS TO WATCH THEM AND START MAKING SURE THEY'LL BE SAFE, DAMMIT!"**

With that and a last sad glance at all the kids, she walked away, wishing she could stop the little ones from crying.

Later, as she and Zuko rode away from the town, the images of the family's horrified looks haunted her, the same as that first memory of the burned village kids had always done. But something else pushed itself to the forefront of her mind as she and Zuko stopped that night to rest for a bit around the campfire. They had kissed...she'd never kissed anyone before. It'd been an accident and she tried to tell herself she'd meant the "Iiiick!" she'd sputtered out afterward. But try as she might, she couldn't deny it. Her test of the imagined kiss had been wrong. The real kiss hadn't been repulsive. And in the back of her mind, she knew. Part of her had enjoyed it. Her heart had skipped a beat when it had happened and, for a moment, her insides had felt like they'd been set on fire. Knowing this left her feeling awkward and filled with distraught feelings. He wasn't a good person to care about. She'd told herself that the entire time she'd known him pretty much. But over time, despite the scar and his bad attitude, she'd gradually begun to find him increasingly attractive. Especially now that he had a nice haircut and she'd seen a better side of him show through more than once, she couldn't deny his somewhat ruggedly handsome features or the strong feelings of sympathy she felt for him whenever she thought about his situation in life. Or her desire to see him smile for a change. She'd seen it happen, she thought, perhaps twice. Once, when she'd first traveled with him and the pirates and he'd laughed at captain's misfortune (he'd actually laughed then!). And perhaps one other time...but she wasn't sure. She looked up from the fire at him and met his eyes, which had been staring at her while she'd been staring at the fire evidently. He looked away quickly, blushing ever so slightly and she did the same, getting the feeling he had been thinking about the kiss as well. They both stared at the fire awkwardly and its movements seemed to become more turbulent and erratic, perhaps from their intense focus on it. Finally, he seemed to be unable to stand it any longer.

"**So...I'm thinking maybe I'll...go...do something, uh, real quick...uh, I'll be back in a bit, "** he said, making a terribly uncomfortable face as he said it and walking away swiftly, obviously embarrassed.

**"Uh...okay. I'll, um, see you then, I guess,"** she replied.

Afterward, she couldn't help but giggle a bit at the expression he'd made.


	10. Momo has kidnapped Sokka's boxers

Masami and Aang slowly made their way back towards the camp, hand in hand. As they returned, they heard more voices then just Toph and Sokka. Another female was with them. Masami and Aang stopped as they were addressed,

"**Here they are, Emi, this is Aang and Masami."** Sokka informed the other girl. The other smiled,

"**Pleasure to meet you both."** Masami smiled, and bowed lightly,

"**You too."** Aang said with a smile. Before either of them could say anything else, footfalls behind them signaled other people,

"**There's a sorta big group headed towards us, and I'd say we need to split."** Toph said, tensely. Everyone agreed, and headed for Appa, Masami grabbing Toph's hand as they headed toward Appa. They all boarded swiftly, and Aang cried,

"**Yip yip!" **And the sky bison soared away from the ground. Masami looked over the side of the saddle, as the group of men didn't seem to know where the group had gone. Idiots.

"**I'm sorry about this Sokka."** Emi said sadly, looking at her legs, her silver bangs falling in her face. Sokka furrowed his brow,

"**How?"**

"**Those men work for my Uncle, he sent them to find me."**

"**Why?"**

"**I entertain at his inn, and I got sick of it, and I told him…and he attacked me, so I tried to leave, but he threatened me, so I stayed, but I finally got the chance to run last night, and I took it. So I don't know how long they'll look for me, but I'm not stopping till I get to Ba Sing Se." ** She said, brushing her hair over her face more. Sokka frowned, and he reached for her face, and moved her silver bangs to the side before she could jerk away,

"**He did this?"** He asked quietly, all eyes going to Emi. She nodded, looking down sadly,

"**It's ugly, I know."** She said, everyone had scars. Masami's heart went out of the girl.

"**It's not bad, it's just a scar. I have one, most people have at least one."** She said with a smile. Emi looked up,

"**Where?"** She asked, Masami smiled, and pulled her legs out from under her, turning on her left leg to the side, and she pulled her robes up a bit, and sure enough she had a rather faded, yet still painful looking laceration on her upper thigh.

"**How'd that happen?"** Aang asked, looking back lightly,

"**When my town was hit with the monsoon, Daddy and Mommy put me on the roof, I almost fell off, and I scraped it on the edge. And, it almost got better till Kali and I were playing on Kyoshi Island and I fell again and reopened it on a rock."** She said with a sheepish smile. Scars happened, nothing to be done about them. Toph perked up now,

"**Your from Kyoshi Island? I thought Sokka was from a water tribe…aren't you related?" **She asked, confused. Masami smiled,

"**We tell people that for traveling purposes, and it sounds better that the Avatar is learning waterbending from someone from a Water tribe, not an Orphan from a town that no longer exists." **She said somberly. Aang looked back from driving Appa,

"**I couldn't ask for a better waterbending teacher, it doesn't matter to me where you're from."** He spoke sweetly. She blushed,

"**You could find a better master, I'm sure, but thank you regardless."** She said as he began to take Appa down, they were far enough away to have some down time.

XOXO

Zuko slumped against Kali from behind as she led Zolo along a worn down path. They were back in the scrub-brush harsh area of the Earth Kingdom. The sun shone down on them heavily. She could see the heat in the air, in the way it shifted and blurred her vision. They were all hot and exhausted from their trip thus far. Not to mention hungry. They were still low on money, after all, since they hadn't been paid for their work the previous day. They'd traveled much of the night and kept going in the morning to put distance between themselves and the last town where they were now known firebending fugitives. They'd taken turns sleeping while riding and stopped only to let Zolo rest, feed, and drink for the most part. They had no food supplies left. And little water. Zolo began to cross the rickety looking bridge in front of them cautiously. Kali looked down wearily at the long way down to the river below them. It made her feel queasy. Suddenly, Zolo's foot broke through the bridge and he let out a wailing. Reacting instinctively, Kali pulled back on the reins to urge the ostrich-horse up and onward, Zuko pulling himself up with at start at the ostrich-horse's misstep.

**"Huh? What happened?!"**

They reached the safety of solid land again.

**"It's fine...we just almost fell through the bridge,"** Kali said, a chill running down her spine at the thought, causing her to shudder.

**"Oh,"** he said distantly, then fell silent again. She wondered what was going through his head. They continued and after a little while longer, she felt him slump against her again. The exhaustion was getting to her too and she struggled to keep her eyes open. She felt him start to slide to the side then and reached back to grab him. He jerked himself awake though and righted himself before he could fall, rubbing his face and clutching his stomach. She felt hers aching, heard it rumble, and tried to ignore it and focus on the road ahead. Just then though, a delicious smell reached her nose which made it impossible to ignore. She heard Zuko perk up as well behind her and she stopped the horse for a moment as they both looked to their right. They spotted two people by a fire...a fire with a delicious roast cooking over it. Kali felt her mouth water and heard Zuko shift to clutch his swords. She was about to wearily tell him to put those away when they both noticed that the people appeared to be a young couple. The man walked over to the woman, knelt, and patted her belly, smiling at her. She was pregnant. Kali heard Zuko shift again and saw him lower his hands and head, resigned. She sighed and they continued on their way. The afternoon wore on until it was nearly dinner time and they hadn't eaten since the day before. Zuko had finished off the last of their water, much to their chagrin. Kali was relieved when they finally came within sight of a town. At least they could buy some food and water there to keep them going. She just hoped they had enough money.

XOXO

As they landed, everyone went their separate ways for the time being. They landed near a stream, and Sokka laid next to it, half naked getting sun. Toph set her rock tent up, and lazed beneath it, and Emi stuck close to Sokka. As Aang wanted to relax, he had his wrist grabbed. As he turned, Masami was in her waterbending training cloths (what normal people called swimwear xD) and she had her other hand on her thin hip.

"**Where do you think you're going?"** She said with a smile. His eyes roamed her thin body, the bruise on her side much less blue then before, and his eyes stopped on the scar on her thigh. He was shocked he hadn't noticed it before. She spoke a few more times, but he couldn't think about what she was saying at the moment. He moved after her slowly as she tugged him, but he didn't speak. He swallowed as they stopped, out of ear shot of everyone else, where the creek was wide enough for them both to stand comfortably. He stripped down out of his shirt, to keep it from getting wet, and he rolled up his pants, not feeling like removing them all the way.

"**And next we're going to practice lifting…shoe boats and planting flowers in Appa's hair and then letting Momo start his own dance hall."** She said the last part with full conviction. As he nodded, she figured out, he was in fact not listening.

"**Repeat everything I just said."** She gripped,

"**Did it hurt?"** He asked, distantly. She furrowed her brow, and followed his eyes down to her thigh. The scar. Of course, this would come up again. She shrugged,

"**Not as badly as it could have I suppose. It was really cold up there, and I was pretty numb anyhow."** She said honestly. He looked up at her, blinking suddenly,

"**Did you say something about Appa a second ago?"** He asked, cocking his head to the side, she waved it off,

"**Course not."** She smiled. He nodded, and he began to get down to business, leaving the issue of her past alone. He'd ask more about it later if he felt the need to. He hardly knew anything about her sister, her parents, or her life on Kyoshi Island, and that was upsetting him a bit more then it probably should have.

XOXO

It was a fairly big town but Kali was relieved to see that neither Zuko nor his uncle appeared on the wanted posters displayed in the town. It looked as though this town, for the most part, had remained free of the Fire Nation's influence. As they trotted slowly through the town towards a merchant, they noticed a set of four soldiers gambling not far away from them. Earth Kingdom soldiers. One, in a slightly different uniform from the others whom Kali guessed to be the leader (and an earthbender based on his lack of shoes), stood watching the others.

**"Come on, spider snake eyes!"** said the soldier rolling the dice.

Much to his delight, the dice granted his wish. Much to his chagrin, he got punched by the other soldiers beside him, while the earthbender smirked. As Kali and Zuko drew close to the merchant's place, however, his smirk turned to a scowl as he looked them over for a moment. They glanced at them then turned their attention back to the merchant. Kali was uneasy about turning her back to him. That scowl had certainly not been a friendly sign. She and Zuko stood before the merchant and she held out what money they had left.

**"Can we get some water, a bag of feed, and something hot to eat?"** asked Zuko, his voice hoarse from the dryness of his throat.

**"Not enough here for a hot meal,"** said the merchant frowning, "**I can get you two bags of feed."  
**  
They looked down, resigned, and Kali agreed that'd be fine. They needed to find a stream or something like that soon so they could replenish their water supply. And they definitely needed to get more money. She hadn't been kidding when she'd told Zuko that food was hard to come by in this particular landscape. As the merchant turned to get the feed, she and Zuko heard giggling and looked down to see two kids next to them. Both boys had mischievous looks on their faces and were looking at the soldiers. They watched as one kid threw an egg at a soldier, hitting him directly in the back of the head, startling him. Then the kids ran away and Kali and Zuko looked back at the merchant. Kali knew what was coming next.

**"Heey!"**

The soldiers approached them. Kali turned to the side to look back at them while Zuko remained firmly facing the merchant.

**"You throwing eggs at us, strangers?"** asked the earthbender. Kali noted now the pair of hammers he had dangling by his side.

**"No,"** replied Kali evenly.  
**  
"You see who did throw it?"**

**"No,"** said Zuko, turning to face them.

**"That all you two can say? No?"** asked one of the other soldiers boldly.

**"No,"** said Kali again, raising an eyebrow at him and cocking her head slightly, her hands on her sword hilt now. Zuko's were on his as well. The earthbender glanced down at their swords, then faced them again, his scowl deepening.

**"Egg had to come from somewhere."**

**"Maybe a chicken flew over,"** said Zuko icily, turning his back to them again while Kali remained looking at them from the side.

One of the soldiers started to laugh but a look from the earthbender silenced him. Kali glanced back at the merchant for a second as he began handing Zuko their bags of feed. As he started to take them, however, in that instant Kali looked back, the earthbender and his pals moved forward. Kali started to draw her swords but the earthbender merely grabbed the bags of feed before Zuko could stop him

**"Thanks for your contribution. The army appreciates your support," smirked the earthbender, then scowled again, "You better leave town. Penalty's a lot steeper than you two can afford."**

He patted his hammers.

**"Trust me."**

The soldiers walked away, leaving Kali and Zuko to glare after them. If they hadn't been so exhausted and starving, Kali would have figured that together they could possibly take the soldiers, even without firebending. But, as it was, they were in no shape to fight and they turned to look at each other miserably.

**"That's Gow,"** scowled the merchant wearily behind them, "He and the rest of the soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation, but they're just a bunch of thugs."

Kali looked at him.

**"Don't suppose you know anyone around her looking for a couple of temporary workers?"**

He shook his head 'no' and gave them a sympathetic look.

**"Afraid not."**

She sighed. They got back on to Zolo, knowing they needed to find a place to stop to figure out what to do next. As they began to ride, however, the boy who'd thrown the egg appeared beside them.

**"Thanks for not ratting me out!"** he said cheerfully.

Kali nodded wearily as Zuko ignored him and began to lead Zolo away. The kid looked a bit put off but then smiled and ran around to the front of Zolo, grabbing part of his reins.

**"I'll take you guys to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. C'mon, I owe you!"  
**  
Neither of them resisted, allowing him to lead them away. At least one of their troop would get dinner tonight.

XOXO

Aang wasn't focusing like he should have been, still. Masami and he past a water whip back and forth, but he was just going through the motions. She sighed, and let the water fall as it came back to her. He looked up slowly and he cocked his head to the side,

"**What?"** He asked, starting to lift water again, but stopped as she sat on a rock,

"**You're not being yourself today." **She pointed out with a small smile, he looked down at the water he stood in,

"**I feel like I don't know anything about you."** He said suddenly, moving to sit next to her. She wrinkled her nose,

"**Not much to know."** She said with a smile,

"**But, if it makes you feel better, you may ask me anything you want."** She said, lounging in the sun, lightly reclined, Aang looked at her,

"**Really?"** He asked incredulously. She nodded with a smile, looking down her nose at him, her head tilted to the side lightly, the sun making her look much paler then she normally did, but in a good way. He swallowed, and he spoke,

"**What were your parents like?"** He asked, biting his lip. He didn't know if she meant he could really ask about them, maybe they were a sore subject.

"**My mom sort of looked like me, Dad not so much. She was taller and skinnier then me though, her name was Sayuri, his name was Dagan. She was from Kyoshi Island, and he was from Omashu as a kid, they moved to the village I was born in when they first married. I found out later my father was…disappointed I was female. He wanted a son, and my mother couldn't have any more children after me. When he found out I was a bender, it was a bit of a saving grace, but I wasn't an earthbender, so I wasn't good enough really. My father wasn't a good man, and my mother was weak. Then, when I was 10, the flood hit, and everything…I hate to say it this way, but I guess looked up for me. I met Kali, and went to live with Pappi, and life was more worth living."** She said with a weird sort of smile. Aang never would have guessed she came from something like that by the way she acted! She was so full of life, and her bending was incredible, and she was friendly, or to him at least, she seemed to get snippy with others rather easily.

"**I never would have guessed that…your father had an affair, right? That's where Kali came from?"** He asked, looking up at her, his legs in front of him,

"**My father had an affair with a woman from the Fire Nation, then she was put in jail, and Kali was born in jail, and she found me. She saved my life, and I owe her everything; being my first friend, showing me I wasn't a mistake; that I did matter, and teaching me that it doesn't matter where you come from, you can make whatever you want to of yourself. When Pappi left us, we were all the other one had, and that was alright with us."** She felt a tear slip down her face at the mention of her sister. She did miss her, more and more every day. She didn't want to make it sound like she didn't love her travel companions now, but she did miss Kali. Very much. She looked back when Aang sat up, and whipped the tear off her face that slowly made a track down towards her neck. She leaned into his touch, and he smiled lightly, leaning forward, and brushing his lips against her. She leaned back into him, and deepened the kiss.

XOXO

They walked down the path toward the little boy's house. He looked to be somewhere from 8 to 10 years old, with wild, mussed up hair tied back somewhat in a hasty bun. As they neared the house, a noisy din erupted from the animals in pens. His family was obviously a group of farmers of sorts.

**"No one can every sneak up on us,"** said the boy, referring to the animals.

**"No kidding,"** replied Zuko while Kali smiled.

They reached the barn and house. The boy led Zolo into the barn. Zuko looked over at the fence post, meeting the eyes of a pigrooster, which crowed in greeting to him. Kali, meanwhile, watched nervously as a man whom she assumed was the boy's father approached them from the house. He had kindly eyes but a weary expression on his face.

**"You friends of Lee's?"** he asked.

The little boy, presumably Lee, ran back out of the barn just then before Kali could answer.

**"These guys just stood up to the soldiers!"** he said excitedly, "**By the end, they practically had them running away!"  
**  
Kali thought that was a bit of exaggeration but declined to comment. A pleasant but tired looking woman joined them from the house.

**"Do these new friends of yours have names?"** she asked, smiling.

Zuko hesitated for a moment and Kali smiled back at the woman, ready to help him in his reply.  
**  
"They don't have to say who they are if they don't want to, Sela," **said her husband gruffly**,** "**Anyone who can hold their own against those bully 'soldiers' is more than welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms."**

**"The real soldiers are off fighting in the war,"** said Sela, **"Like Lee's big brother, Sen Su."**

She paused then continued, with a friendly smile.  
**  
"Supper's going to be ready soon. Would you two like to stay?"**

Zuko frowned.

**"We can't. We should be moving on."**

He glanced at Kali, who also frowned.

**"We do need to be moving on...but, if you're sure you don't mind, it might be best for us to stay long enough to eat at least."**

She looked at Zuko.

**"We haven't eaten since some time last night."**

**"Then it's settled,"** smiled Sela.

**"Surely there's some way we can repay you for your kindness?"** asked Kali, reluctant to accept help freely.

Sela and her husband exchanged glances.

**"Gansu could use some help on the barn. Why don't you three work for a while and then we'll eat? That is, if you don't mind working with the men,"** she added for Kali's benefit.

Kali smiled.

**"No, I'm sure that's fine."**

Zuko nodded his assent. Together with Lee and Gansu, Kali and Zuko headed for the barn.

XOXO

Emi and Sokka sat together along side the water. Toph's small snores could be heard from a little ways away, and Sokka leaned over Emi lightly, little whispers could be heard from the close sitting pair,

"**So, you sing then?"** Sokka asked with a smile, she blushed,

"**A bit."** She asked, looking down at her folded hands. He spoke again,

"**I'm sure your voice is lovely."** He smiled. She blushed deeper, chewing her lip,

"**I suppose."** She fidgeted lightly,

"**I've always thought singing was an attractive quality."** He said as a loud crash was heard behind them. Sokka readied himself for a fight, but only looked to see Momo flying around with a large wad of clothing that he'd stolen from a knocked over bag, that to Sokka's horror he realized were his spare boxers.

"**What're thos…Oh.."** Emi stopped her sentence when the clothing opened to reveal blue boxers with happy clouds and equally happy raindrops on them. Emi began to giggle, and Sokka hopped to his feet and ran after the chittering lemur.

"**MOMO I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!**" He cried, jumping up and down as the lemur floated easily out of his reach. Appa moaned, and rolled over. Toph roused at the screaming, leaning up in her tent,

"**What's going on?"** She asked sleepily,

"**Momo has kidnapped Sokka's boxers." **Emi informed the blind girl, who also began to giggle.

"**Does that mean he isn't wearing any?"** Toph asked with a smile,

"**OF COURSE I'M WEARING UNDERWEAR!"** Sokka screamed much louder then he meant to.

At the screaming, another group emerged from the woods, and Momo chattered even louder, and he hurled himself towards Aang, landing on his shoulder, dropping the boxers over the top of his head as he did. Masami reached out and collected them, looking them over at a distance,

"**I'm glad to know that Sokka."** She said with a grin, as he snatched them from her, and began to walk off, and haughtily stuffed them back into his bag, not able to look at the others at this moment.

XOXO

They sat on the hot roof of the barn, nailing shingles to its frame. Below them, within the barn, Kali could see Zolo feeding and drinking to his heart's content. They were so lucky Lee'd befriended them. She looked down at where Zuko was hard at working hammering. This was, no doubt, the first time he'd ever done this kind of thing and it definitely showed. She smirked a bit at the many nails he'd hammered into one area. She'd done this kind of thing before so she knew how to spread the nails out correctly.

**"You might want to spread them out a bit more, just so you know,"** she smiled at Zuko, who scowled back at her.

Meanwhile, Lee watched the three of them work curiously from the later. He reminded her a bit of Wahib in how curious he was. Thankfully, he was older and not needy like Wahib.

**"You don't seem like you're from around here,"** he said, also noticing Zuko's lack of expertise at nailing.

Zuko shook his head 'no' and mumbled.

**"Where are you from then?"**

"Far away."

"Ooooooh. Where're ya goin'?"

"Lee, give it a rest. Stop asking the man personal questions, got it?" interjected Gansu.

Lee sighed.  
**  
"Yeess."**

After a moment's pause,

**"So how'd you two get your scars?"**

**"UUHH!"** Zuko stifled a cry of pain as he hammered his thumb. Kali sighed. She'd gotten so hot and was so exhausted by now that she'd removed her gloves and rolled back her sleeves, displaying all the two matching scars on her upper arms and the nasty, larger scar that spread from her right hand to past her wrist.

**"It's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. A person's past is his or her own business."**

Kali glanced at Zuko and saw that he was staring at her scars. He didn't know where they were from any more than Lee did. He caught her watching him and looked away quickly. She thought about the biggest scar, conjuring up a brief memory.

A large group of children, dressed in prison garb, lined up in a courtyard surrounded by hastily constructed wooden structures with guards surrounding them. A guard standing in front of each of them, including herself at around five years old. By this point, she'd discovered she was a firebender but her mother had made her promise never to use it, to keep it hidden no matter what happened so long as she was in this camp. The guards in front of the children beckon and the children are forced forward. Today, they're being tested. Any who are firebenders will have their fates decided today. Those who aren't will go back to their parents. Kali steps forward, along with all the others, knowing she musn't bend no matter what happens. Each Earth Kingdom soldier holds a torch in on hand and grabs a child with the other, pulling them close.

**"You don't protect yourself, Mutt, you're gonna get burned,"** her soldier whispered seethingly.

Mutt. That was what they'd usually called her. Earth Kingdom father. Fire Nation mother. Normally, marriages between citizens of different countries was fine. At least, it had been for centuries until the Fire Nation had started the war. Now, any child of a Fire Nation citizen and a citizen from the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe was considered an outsider by both sides. A mutt.

He'd slowly lowered the torch closer and closer to her arm, continuing to taunt and threaten her. She'd struggled, tried to pull away. Of course, she hadn't been strong enough. She'd stared at the fire, horrified as she began to be able to feel its heat, and begged him not to hurt her, still fighting to get away even though she knew she couldn't escape. Around her, the other children were screaming, struggling, crying, whimpering. One of them blocked the fire, revealing himself as a bender.

**"We got one here!"** his soldier had shouted.

Crusher, the man in charge, the warden of sorts, had joined him eagerly, accompanied by two other soldiers. The three soldiers surrounded the kid as the first soldier let him go, tossing the terror stricken, crying child to the ground. As the child had looked up, Crusher had raised a huge rock and held it over him for a moment. The child had screamed. A long piercing scream that rose past all the other children's screams and cries, silencing them. Kali would never forget the scream or its abrupt end. The sound of bones splintered and crushed, the spattered blood from beneath the boulder. The screaming and weeping parents.

She shuddered violently, bringing herself back to the roof where she realized she had stopped nailing for a moment. Seeing Lee looking at her curiously, she shook the memory off and returned to work. She'd chosen the fire over the rock. She'd screamed and wept, like all the others, but she'd lived. Three children had died that day. Only those who weren't able to firebend and herself had survived. She'd spent the rest of the night clasped tightly in her mother's arms, whimpering and sobbing. She glanced at Zuko, who looked as lost in thought as she had been, and wondered what he was thinking about, if he was lost in a memory too.

XOXO

As the day drew to a close, Emi fell asleep on Sokka's shoulder, Momo fell asleep on Appa, Toph fell asleep with her rocks, and Aang and Masami were left awake, sitting in comfortable silence. Aang looked up at the sky, and he looked back towards Masami, standing, and he held his hand out to her,

"**Wanna go for a walk?"** He asked as she looked up at him. She smiled, nodding lightly, taking his hand. They moved quietly around everyone else, Sokka waving as they moved away from the sleeping group. As they did, Aang spoke lightly, pointing beyond where they "trained" earlier.

"**I bet you can see the stars really well from over there." **He said with a smile. She nodded, and she followed him as he led the way. As they got over there, she looked up, and he was right. She lowered herself to the grass, lying on her back, and looking up and he sat next to her. He pointed at a group of stars, making an odd shape, something like a dragon almost.

"**Dotellian."** He smiled, she looked up at him, smile gracing her face,

"**You know a lot about astronomy?"** She asked, she knew very little about stars. He shrugged, scratching his arm lightly,

"**Some, I know some stories, the monks used to tell us them. Like that one, he was a great Dragon who took down a great Tyrant named Yuto."** He told her, pointing a form beneath the one before, making an illusion of a man lying on his back. She smiled,

"**Kali and I used to do this…but we'd make up our own constellations…except one."** She rolled her head back, looking for the familiar group of stars. She rolled over on her stomach and looked past them, pointing to a group far off in the distance, that appeared to be two close together, and parts touching, but there was another group behind the others, looming.

"**I don't know that one."** Aang said, squinting at it. She smiled,

"**Zavist."** She explained,

"**Zavist was a man betrothed to a woman named Alethea, but Alethea was in love with another man, and Zavist wouldn't hear of it, so he killed the her when he found them together. So, where I was raised, Zavist was another name for envy. After her death, it was found out that her lover was actually a Deity, and he came back to make Alethea like him, he gave his immortality to her, and for that, they were both set up in the stars, and eventually, Zavist was too, so the world would know of what he did to them."** She said, smiling at the story she'd heard from her Pappi. She and Kali would make him tell it over and over, until he was no longer able to remember it all the way. But by then, they knew it themselves.

"**I've never understood why some people can't just leave well enough alone."** Aang stated, his brow furrowed. Masami looked at him,

"**How do you mean?"** She asked,

"**It would be like someone trying to take you from me. I couldn't handle it!"** He said, anger flaring for a moment at the thought. His head began to glow, and she grabbed his hand, calming him down,

"**No one can take me from you, I promise."** She said with a smile. He took a deep breath, pushing the thoughts away, and he dropped back to his knees next to her.

"**I…have never felt for someone like I feel for you."** He began, looking her in the face, completely serious,

"**I don't want to lose you. When I said you were my girlfriend back in Chin, I didn't think before I said it, but I've thought since, and I….I'd be honored…if that were the case."** He whispered quietly. She smiled widely, slipping a hand under his fallen chin,

"**And, I'd be ecstatic to be your girlfriend."** She informed him with a smile. He smiled widely, and he moved his hand to her face, and he connected their lips, and they slowly fell back into the grass, his smaller body leaning over hers lightly. He pulled away after a few moments, and he sighed contentedly, lying against her, his arms around her thin waist and her head against his shoulder.

XOXO

Kali and Zuko had a pleasant meal with Lee's family that night. Kali did most of the talking for their part, not too surprisingly. She mainly asked questions and contributed answers to Lee, who was still very curious. She limited the information in the answers, of course, but answered them enough to pacify him at least. Zuko looked like he was in another world part of the time, staring dazedly down at his meal of rice and pigchicken. Both of them ate very heartily though, having gone the day without food and knowing this could be the best meal they'd have in a long time. Kali helped clean up after they thanked the family for dinner. Sela insisted they should spend the night. She and Gansu had no spare rooms but they offered to let them sleep in the barn. Much obliged, Kali and Zuko accepted. They collapsed into the straw, Kali curled up between Zuko and Zolo, all of them sleeping together on the same haystack. The hay was rather itchy, but they were tired enough it didn't matter too much. Kali dozed as thoughts floated through her head, feeling herself start to fade away. Just as she had nearly fallen asleep, she was brought back slightly to consciousness by a quiet noise not to far from her and Zuko shifting next to her, sighing. Wearily, she cracked open an eyelid and saw Lee stealing out into the night with Zuko's swords. A moment later, Zuko rose and calmly followed him. Deciding not to be left out of this little midnight trip and wondering what Zuko's intentions were, she rose after another moment, yawned, and followed quietly.

XOXO

Masami started to doze off when she felt lips on hers again, and opened her eyes slowly and she smiled. Aang pulled back, slightly unsure of himself,

"**Is that okay?"** He asked, timidly for the first time since they'd ever done this, she smiled wider,

"**Yes, Aang, it's okay."** She said as he quickly closed the distance again. His tongue ran along her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth, and they battled for dominance, Aang being surprisingly dominant tonight. He ran his hands gently down her sides, and she ran her arms over his shoulders, around his neck. As her fingers grazed his neck, he squirmed, giggling.

"**What?"** She asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. His giggle was endearing.

"**Nothing, that just tickled."** He said sheepishly, grabbing the back of his neck. She smiled,

"**I didn't know you were ticklish."** She stated, crawling into a sitting position. He nodded happily,

"**Yep! Practically everywhere…no no nonononooahahahahahahaha!"** Aang squealed, falling over into the grass as she went straight for his sides. He writhed around convulsing from laughter.

"**Ma-sm-eeeee ahahaha no! no! Please! Haahaa!!" **He was gasping for breath by the time she let up. His face was red, and he looked up at her,

"**I shouldn't have told you that."** He giggled. She stood, and offered him a hand up, she looked up and could see the sun starting to rise. Jeez, how long had they been gone?! Sokka wouldn't let them hear the end of this when they woke up tomorrow. As they began to walk back, Aang tripped out of exhaustion, Masami falling after him. She landed on his back, and her hand grazed his lower back, and the top of his butt. He squeaked with a giggle,

"**No! Not there, it's worse then anywhere else!"** He begged, standing quickly, offering her a hand. She giggled,

"**Your butts ticklish too?"**

"**I said EVERYWHERE."** He said with an embarrassed giggle. She leaned over and kissed his head.

"**I think you being ticklish is cute."**

"**Even there?"**

"**Even there."**

XOXO

Zuko walked slowly out into the moonlight shining down from above the barn. He glanced back at Kali's sleeping form to see if he'd awakened her. Satisfied she was still asleep, he strolled towards the sunflower field he'd seen the kid head for with his swords. He'd wasted more than enough time with kids during the past few days, but, somehow, he couldn't bring himself to get angry with this one. Strange. He wasn't used to not feeling angry. Especially when that kid had taken his swords without his permission. He scowled as he walked, wondering why he wasn't upset, which in turn began to make him upset. He reached the field and looked out across it, spotting the kid hopping up and down through it, messing with his swords. His thoughts turned to when he was that age. He'd liked playing with knives as well. Specifically the dagger his uncle had sent him from Ba Sing Se…before things had changed…

He walked quietly through the flowers, brushing against them lightly as he moved purposely past them. Lee stabbed at an old, gnarled tree trunk in the midst of the field. He was wielding the swords all wrong, jabbing uselessly like that. Zuko reached a point not to far from the oblivious youth and stopped.

**"You're holding them all wrong,"** he said, startling Lee into falling. Lee stood, a flower head falling off his head and a look of shame spreading across his face. He held the swords out to Zuko. Zuko took them and looked back down at the kid. Why not show him a thing or two? He was already awake and up anyway. Wouldn't hurt.

**"Keep in mind, these are dual swords,"** Zuko stated, then began to demonstrate, **"Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, because they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole."  
**  
He swung back around, chopping off the top of a sunflower, then handed the swords back to the boy. Lee took them and tried to mimic the movements Zuko had shown him. A bit stiff and sloppy, Zuko thought, but that's to be expected. With more practice, he could probably get it. Lee turned and leapt at the tree trunk, striking it and knocking a piece of bark off of it as Zuko watched, arms folded. Lee turned and Zuko saw that he was looking for a sign of approval from him. Zuko allowed himself a slight smile and nodded. Not bad for a beginner really. Lee smiled and laughed. After he got in a bit more practice with the swords, he handed them back to Zuko reverently and they headed back towards the house and barn. Lee smiled up at him.

**"I think you'd really like my brother Sen Su. He used to show me stuff like this all the time."**

Zuko didn't focus so much on the boy's words as on his tone. It was happy and the way Lee acted made Zuko feel as though Lee looked up to him. Thinking on the words then, the comparison to his big brother, made Zuko's fondness for the boy grow. In such a short amount of time, this kid already seemed to see him as someone to be respected, to be admired even, and seen as a friend or like a big brother. Zuko'd never had a big brother. He'd never even had a brother. And Azula had been a nightmare to grow up with. Clever, overly talented, manipulative. Growing up in the shadow of his sister would have been bad enough. But to have to grow up always being shown up by his LITTLE sister. That was even worse.

He looked down at Lee again. He seemed to put his full trust in Zuko. He even seemed to like him. This made Zuko feel…different. For a moment, he actually felt…genuinely happy. That'd been happening more often lately it seemed. Not a lot but just…more often now that he and Kali were constantly together. It felt strange to him after three years without any true instances of happiness to speak of.

As Zuko returned to the barn and took his place beside Kali's sleeping form, he stared down at her, pondering this. He knew why Lee had made him feel happy sort of. But Kali…most of the time, she contradicted him, overrode him, and generally disagreed with him or steered him in directions he hadn't intended to take. What was there to like about her really? Even as he thought this, he felt his stomach knot up inside him as his eyes ran along her body. For a girl who wore pants (which he'd always thought was strange. It'd been one of the first things he'd noticed about her really.), her figure showed rather well and it was a nice one, with smooth, shapely curves in all the right places. She had nice eyes as well (though, actually, he'd only ever seen one since, for some reason, she insisted on keeping the other one covered with a crop of long black bangs). His insides tightened a bit more as he looked her over again and his thoughts moved to the scars on her arms and her right hand. Part of him wished she'd answered Lee's earlier question about where she'd gotten the scars. He'd wondered that a few times as well since he'd first seen them when they'd been drifting around on that damned little raft from hell for weeks. She stirred slightly and he looked away, lest she wake and catch him staring down at her. He laid back down and stared at the ceiling, still wondering what it was about her that had made him feel traces of the old happiness he'd once known at home. There were plenty of pretty girls out there, he supposed, so it couldn't be that. And besides, he told himself, she wasn't that pretty. I mean, she wears pants like a man! he thought, suppressing the quieter, simultaneous thought that she made them look good. He scowled at the ceiling, as if it was its fault he was confused. She was, in general, a pest and a nag, insisting they had to do things he didn't want to do and forcing him to act differently from the way he normally would. He was a prince and no colonial-gone-native should be able to tell him what to do. Sure, she had her moments where she was there for him. Like when he'd been imprisoned in that town. But still, she'd stolen his Blue Spirit guise and then chastised him about using it! Who did she think she was?! All the same though…she'd saved him. Just like on the boat and at the North Pole. Why'd she done it? What did she have to gain by earning his trust?

He stared at the ceiling a while longer before finally drifting off into a much-needed sleep.

XOXO

Masami woke up to giggling the next morning. As she tried to move, arms stopped her from their hold around her waist, and someone groaning into her back.

"**FivemoresminutesMasmi!" ** Aang slurred,

"**You two have a good time last night?"** Sokka cooed, Masami narrowed her eyes dangerously. She didn't feel like being laughed at, and most definitely not this early in the afternoon. She sat up, her neck length hair falling out of its usual neat hold.

"**We did actually, now why don't you and your boxers go do an activity?"** Masami snarled snippily. Sokka snorted,

"**You don't sound like you had a good time."** He jeered,

"**We're officially together, and I'm giving you one more official warning to go away or I'll make you go away."** She snapped, laying back down. Emi squealed,

"**That's so cute!"** She cried. Masami smiled wearily.

"**Thank you."** She was coming to terms that she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep, which could have potentially been dangerous for all those around, but before anything else could be said, Toph spoke up,

"**I hate to be a downer, but there are people headed this way."** She said, looking off towards the woods. Masami squinted to see them, and she could hear them, they didn't sound like they were just for a little stroll. She shook Aang lightly,

"**I think we need to go."** She told him as he groggily opened his eyes. He blinked, not knowing what was going on,

"**Why?"** He asked, scratching his head. Sokka pulled his club out as they reached camp, Emi screamed, and clung to Sokka's back. Aang stood, fatigue gone. He grabbed his staff, swinging air in the attackers direction. The men were sent flying, but they came right back,

"**Everybody get on Appa!"** Aang cried, motioning towards the bison. Everyone ran towards Appa, when one of the men sent Aang flying with a startled yelp with a rock shot from the ground. Masami doubled back after getting Toph into the saddle and she froze the pond some of the men stood in, stopping them in their tracks, quite literally. She then used the water from her side to whip the leader in the face, and she was knocked onto her back with a quick shove. She landed on the ground with an "oof" and she stood up as he loomed over her,

"**Slightly out of your league here, aren't you, little girl?"** He jeered. She narrowed her eyes, and brought her foot straight up, connecting with the sensitive area beneath his belt. He howled, and fell back towards the stream, where Masami also froze him, only by the seat of his pants.

"**DON'T ATTACK MY FRIENDS, INTERUPPT MY SLEEPING TIME AND NEVER CALL ME SMALL!"** She snarled, running back towards Appa, and the group making for another safe haven.

XOXO

Kali woke up early the next morning, hearing Gansu and Lee taking care of their herds and flocks. She stretched and stood, looking back down at Zuko, who was still fast asleep and breathing heavily. She looked down on him for a minute, thinking about last night. She'd been pleasantly surprised to see Zuko actually show his good side to someone for a change. He'd been nice to the boy, had let him use his swords even. And he hadn't acted a bit angry about Lee taking his swords in the first place. She'd actually felt a bit touched, watching them in the sunflower field together, Lee treating Zuko as if he were a big brother. She'd made sure to return back to the barn quickly once she saw them start back for the road, deciding this was a moment for them to share alone, even if she'd been there to see part of it. It'd been weird, though, once he'd returned to the barn and sat down beside her. She'd assumed he would go back to trying to sleep but she'd felt herself stiffen as though being watched and when she'd cracked open an eyelid, she'd seen that this was, in fact, the case. Zuko was still sitting next to her, the moonlight from the doorway revealing his face staring down at her, with his eyes running down her figure. She'd had half a mind to scare the shit out of him by jumping up abruptly and chewing him out but decided she'd aim for a more subtle approach towards the problem. She neither had the energy nor the drive to get angry with him right now. She shifted slightly, facing her head and body more towards him. He seemed to take a hint from it and looked away abruptly, laying down to look up at the ceiling. It was a long time before she heard his breathing slow down. Zuko didn't snore but he did breath quite heavily, like many people do in their sleep. She was thankful he didn't snore. It made it easier for her to fall asleep soon after.

Not too long after she'd gotten up, Zuko was up and, after helping Gansu and Lee with their chores a bit, they all joined Sela inside for a hearty breakfast. It was absolutely delicious and Kali thought of how much Uncle would have enjoyed the tasty sausage Sela served them. Once finished and the table cleared, it was time for Zuko and Kali to leave. As they mounted Zolo, Zuko holding the reins, the family came outside to see them off. Kali and Zuko thanked them for their hospitality and Sela extended a hand holding a package towards them.

**"Here. This should get you two through a couple of meals at least."**

As Kali reached for it, they heard the sound of thundering ostrich-horses. She took the package and looked up at the approaching soldiers. The same soldiers they'd had trouble with earlier.

**"What do you think they want?"** asked Gansu.

**"Trouble,"** replied Zuko lowly.

The men stopped just short of where Kali, Zuko, and the family were. Gansu took a step forward.

**"What do you want, Gow?"** he asked gruffly.

The earthbender's face twisted into a thin grin.

**"Just thought someone ought to tell you that your son's battalion got captured."**

Gansu's face took on a look of horror, as did Sela's and Lee's. Gow turned to his compatriots.  
**  
"You boys hear what the Fire Nation did to their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"  
**  
**"Dressed'em up in Fire Nation uniforms and put them on the front line, the way I heard it,"** replied one, spitting, **"Then they just watched."**

**"You watch your mouth!"** Gansu shouted, taking another step forward angrily.

Gow scowled and moved to knock Gansu over with his ostrich-horse. Zuko abruptly urged Zolo forward, blocking Gow's path. Gow looked eyes with both Zuko and Kali in turn for a few moment, all of them scowling heavily, then he turned back to his supporters.

**"Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs?"** he snarled, then wheeled his ostrich-horse around and set off, the others following him. Kali and Zuko turned to look back at the family, who looked devastated. Anger flared in Kali at how those soldiers had acted. How could they treat the people they were supposed to be protecting like that? How could they throw the potential loss of a son in a family's face? Sela began to cry. She and Gansu hugged tightly then Gansu looked down at her, wiping her tears away.

**"I'm going to the front. I'm going to find Sen Su and bring him back."**

Kali stared down at him, knowing this would be a practically hopeless mission, as well as dangerous. She had to bite her tongue to keep from asking him not to go, not to leave his family in such a tough situation when there was a very real chance that he wouldn't find his son or that he would get killed. Or both. It was the family's decision though. Sela and Gansu walked back to their house, holding each other. Lee started to follow, then turned back to look at Zuko and Kali, focusing on Zuko.

**"When my dad leaves...will you stay?"**

Kali's heart went out to him but she knew they couldn't stay.

**"No,"** said Zuko solemnly**, "We need to move on..."**

He reached for something at his belt and Kali saw him draw forth the pearl dagger he carried at all times.

**"Here,"** he said, handing the dagger to Lee, **"I want you to have this. Read the inscription."  
**  
Lee looked down at the dagger, drawing it from its sheath.

**"Made in Earth Kingdom."**

**"The other one,"** Zuko said hastily. Kali couldn't help but smile a little at Lee's mistake. Zuko urged Zolo forward, surprising Kali.

**"Never give up without a fight,"** she heard Lee read as Zuko rushed Zolo away. She looked back to see Lee follow them a few steps before stopping and she waved good bye half-heartedly, silently wishing his family the best of luck. Her thoughts went to the knife's inscription and what it must have meant to Zuko. That inscription...it was basically his motto in life. She was sure that knife had meant a lot to Zuko for one reason or another, yet he'd given it up to this boy whom he barely knew. She held on to him a bit more tightly as he continued to push Zolo, apparently in a hurry to leave Lee's home behind. That had been sweet of him. Yet again, she found herself wondering at this goodness, this tender spot within him which showed itself so sporadically. He was so hard to understand. She just wished she knew what he was thinking sometimes...

XOXO

They landed Appa close to night fall. Masami crawled out of the saddle after everyone else had left it and they began to set up camp. Toph fended for herself as usual, and Aang collapsed onto Appa's tail. Masami brought a blanket and tossed it over him and he opened one eye weakily.

"**Coming to sleep?"** He asked with a hopeful smile. She returned the smile,

"**Let me make sure Sokka and Emi are okay, and I'll be back, okay?"** She whispered, kneeling next to him, planting a kiss to his forehead. He nodded with a smile, and she wandered back towards Sokka and Emi. Upon seeing they were intact and fine, she bid them goodnight, and headed back towards Aang.

Sokka looked to Emi, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder, and she whispered,

"**I'm sorry all this trouble is following me."** She breathed, moving her bangs to hide her teary eyes. He smiled, shrugging,

"**Don't worry about it, we're used to it."** He assured her. They were, more often then she realized. Aang being the Avatar made them natural targets for all sorts of mishaps. Emi smiled lightly,

"**How can I thank you and your friends for all this, Sokka?"** She asked, wiping her face on the back of her hand. He smiled, almost pervertedly, and he shook the thoughts from his head, but not before she saw that look, and blushed,

"**Don't worry about thanking us."** Sokka said with a smile, and his entire body tensed as she pressed her lips to his neck, and she whispered,

"**What if I wanted to?"** She cooed, moving down his neck slowly. He shivered,

"**Well, if that's the case…I can't stop you."** He said, trailing his hands up and down her back. He bit his lip to keep from making any noise as she worked on his neck. He pulled her away after a few moments, and he connected their lips. She moaned lightly, wrapping her arms around his neck. She jumped as his hand found its way down to her belt and slightly behind her. She leaned into him, and she ran her tongue along his bottom lip. He granted her entrance to his mouth, and they began to swirl their tongues together. After a bit, they pulled back for air, and she blushed, poking his neck which was now bruised,

"**I'm sorry about that.."** She said sheepishly. He smiled, taking her hand in his,

"**It's alright, I'll be sure to return the favor sometime soon."** He said with a wink, and he laughed as she blushed and looked at the fire, he kissed her head, and pulled her closer, just enjoying her company.

XOXO

They'd gotten a fair distance away from Lee's house when Zuko stopped the ostrich-horse. They had found a small stream which provided the area around it with a decent amount of green. They lay down on the grass for a few minutes while Zolo drank his fill from the stream and snacked on the grass. Kali lay there, thinking about Lee and his family. She was beginning to wish she'd said her piece to Gansu about leaving his family. It was a bad idea, she was sure of it. She worried for Sela and Lee. As she stared up at the sky, she heard Zuko begin to mumble and turned to look at where he lay beside her. He had his eyes closed and appeared to be talking to himself. She listened a bit more closely.

**"Azula always lies...Azula always lies..."**

He was repeating it to himself quietly, as though it had some calming effect on him. She frowned, concerned, and started to reach for him when she heard a wagon fast approaching them. Looking up, she saw that it was Sela driving frantically towards them. She stopped the ostrich-horses and leapt down from the wagon. Zuko sat up to look at her.

"**You have to help,"** she cried, distraught, "It's Lee. The thugs from town came back as soon as Gansu left. When they ordered us to give them food, Lee pulled a knife on them. I don't even know where he got a knife!"

Zuko looked down as Kali glanced at him.

**"Then they took him away. They told me if he's old enough to fight,"** continued Sela, suppressing a sob, **" he's old enough to join the army. I know we barely know you, but-"  
**  
She sobbed. Kali and Zuko were on their feet instantly.  
**  
"We'll get your son back,"** said Zuko with iron conviction in his voice. He and Kali didn't even need to exchange glances to know they were agreed. Sela looked up at them, hope showing in her eyes as Kali retrieved Zolo. They mounted him quickly and hurried back towards the town, Sela trailing behind them.

XOXO

Masami didn't move until she heard someone near her talking, by the voice she could guess it was Sokka.

"**Yue would want me to be happy…but what am I doing?! I just met her…but she started it! That doesn't make it any better!"** He groaned, and turned his back away from her. She couldn't hear what he mumbled as he did, but he froze.

"**Was that…No, bears don't live in holes. Jeez, get a grip on yourself man."** He shook his head as he turned around. He sighed, and he hung his head. As he did, Masami flew up from her spot on Appa's tail, shouting at Sokka,

"**ABOOGABOOGA!"** He yelped in a feminine fashion, and fell backwards onto the ground. She cackled and held her sides as she rolled backwards.

"**Hilarious."** He said flatly.

"**How long have you been awake?"** He asked wearily. She smiled, controlling herself after a moment,

"**Long enough. What's up? You sound upset?" **She asked, geuniely interested. He sighed, and he scratched the back of his head,

"**I feel like I'm getting attached to Emi, but I also feel I shouldn't.."** He lead off.

"**Because of Yue."** She finished. He nodded, bringing his knees up towards his face,

"**I know for a fact she would want you to be happy. And, you can't help how you feel. Feeling for someone else doesn't change the fact you did care about Yue. It's life. You will always remember her, and that's what matters, Sokka."** She said sensibly. No one wanted to see someone they cared about suffer, she knew Yue would want Sokka to move on, and she knew in her heart that Sokka would never forget her, even if he did move on. There was a difference in forgetting and moving on.

"**I guess that makes sense."** He breathed, lifting his head slightly. He looked her in the eyes, and he smiled lightly,

"**Thanks…that helps."** He acknowledged. She smiled,

"**Anytime."** He stood, and turned to go, she called after him,

"Oh! And Sokka,"

"**Yeah?"**

"**Nice hickey."**

XOXO

The sun was low in the sky when they arrived in town. The townsfolk cleared out of their way and gathered around the center of the town where they found the soldiers with Lee tied up to the town's water tower. She heard Lee exclaim happily at their arrival. They dismounted, Zuko taking a few steps in front of Kali and the ostrich horse as they saw Gow emerge from a store to the left and join his men. There were more of them than Kali had seen before. Counting Gow, there were a total of ten where they'd only seen four men before. She frowned, slightly concerned by this, but decided it didn't matter. She and Zuko could take them, firebending or no firebending. She was probably better with her swords anyway really. More experience. And Lee needed them. Zuko looked back at her.

**"I'll handle this,"** he said firmly, then started forward.

Kali stopped him, stood beside him.

**"Not without me, you won't,"** she replied just as firmly.

A look passed across his face for a moment. It looked surprised...maybe even in a pleased way sort of? She dropped her hand from his shoulder and nodded. Together they stepped forward to face the thugs.

**"Let the kid go,"** said Zuko, in a dangerous tone.

Gow laughed then his face turned to a scowl abruptly as he gestured violently.  
**  
"Who do you think you are, telling us what to do?!"**

Zuko and Kali glared back. Kali was surprised to hear Zuko's reply, having half expected him to tell them he was a prince.

**"It doesn't matter who I am, but I know who you are. You're not soldiers, you're bullies. Freeloaders, abusing your power. Mostly over women and kids. You don't want Lee in your army. You're sick cowards messing with a family who's already lost one son to the war."  
**  
The thugs spread out from their leader, partially surrounding them. Gow turned to one of the other three they'd seen before.

**"Are you going to let this stranger stand there and insult you like that?"** he asked seethingly.

In reply, the man charged forward at Zuko, the rest of the men joining him in attacking the two strangers. They took stances back to back.

Zuko was the first to attack, blocking the first man's attack then unsheathing his swords directly into the man's stomach sending him falling backward onto the ground and running away in fright. Kali ducked two spears which met in the space she'd been in, then grabbed them and shoved down heavily, snapping their ends off. She drew her swords and her two opponents fled with their sticks. Zuko sidestepped another attack and shoved the man to the ground while blocking another man's spear with a sword. He then proceed to smash the spear with a kick and turned to do the same to the fallen man's spear, which had nearly stabbed him in the back. Momentarily free, he glanced at Kali then launched himself towards Gow himself. She understood, though she didn't want to. He would take on the earthbender one-on-one while she dealt with the three remaining soldiers, one of whom held a large axe which looked to be a bit sturdier than the flimsy spears. Great.

Gow took a fighting stance with his hammers as Zuko charged him, the townspeople cheering him and Kali on. Zuko sliced the rock Gow sent at him in pieces. Gow sent two more rocks flying at him. Zuko struggled to block them and was hit by one, knocking him back a little. He recovered quickly and returned to charging, brandishing his swords. Kali heard one older man from the crowd yell,

**"Give'em a left! A left!!"**

The old woman beside him scowled.

**"It's not a fist fight."**

"He's got a left sword, don't he?" grinned the man.

Kali swerved as two spears stabbed at her while an axe sliced through the air right in front of her. She bent over backwards and flipped back then sidestepped one spear while blocking the other, darting forward to disarm the man of his spear. She snapped it and that was one opponent gone, fleeing in fear. The axe blade flashed before her, aimed at her neck and held up both swords to block it.

Meanwhile, Zuko continued his fight. Over the axe wielder's shoulder, Kali could see him taking the blows head on, fighting to gain ground.

**"Dodge them!"** she shouted, before she, herself, was forced to dodge a spear in her side. Why did he have to be so stubborn about doing things the hard way, tackling things head on always? She heard the man from the crowd shout for Zuko to look out. One of Gow's rocks forced him to ground for a moment. Kali cracked another spear, leaving two pairs of one-on-one combatants facing each other in the town's center. Kali danced back as the axe wielder advanced, forcing her farther away from Zuko and Gow. Zuko had recovered from the previous blow and was fending off more rocks determinedly. Gow was delaying him but he was gradually getting closer. Another of Gow's rocks managed to hit him and Gow took advantage of the instant to pound the ground with one of his hammers. As Zuko started forward again, a sudden ridge of rocks appeared in front of him, knocking him beneath the chin and hard in the ribs. He fell to the ground, dropping his swords. Gow smirked and advanced on him. He didn't look like he was about to get up either. The axe wielder charged Kali. With a sudden burst of determination and ferocity, she blocked his blade and forced it to the side, following her initial blocking movement to the side through by swinging her leg around as hard as she could to knock the man in the face. She twirled around as he fell backward to the ground, dropping his axe. She dropped her swords, grabbed it hastily, and, seeing Gow preparing to finish Zuko, hurled it at him with all her strength. It was a relatively sloppy through but it did the trick, distracting him as he lifted a barrier of rock in defense. That distraction was all the time Zuko needed to come to, as it turned out. Kali rushed to join him but before she could reach them, Zuko picked up his swords and spun around furiously, whipping up a power spiral of flames, taking Gow by surprise and knocking him off the ground several feet backwards.

XOXO

The group mingled with each other, Toph and Emi proving to be cheerful enough company for Masami's liking. She got along well with them, or it seemed so, and that was saying something. She was a bit rough around the edges for most females, but these two didn't seemed to mind. As the sky began to tint orange, the group could hear the thundering of feet as they had before. Toph looked up,

"**They're back."** She stated. Sokka drew his club, and handed it to Emi.

"**I say we fight this time."** He stated, his voice deadpan. Aang looked apprehensive, and looked at Masami for some form of conformation, or ideas. She looked at him, and she smiled, but spoke seriously,

"**I agree with Sokka."** That seemed to be all Aang needed to know and he nodded,

"**Alright."** They all stood, readying themselves for a fight. Toph smiled, biting her lip excitedly, she hadn't gotten a good fight in in a while, and she felt long overdue for one. As the men approached them, they could get a good look at them, there were 6; big men, earth benders form the looks of it, and from past experience they knew at least one of them was.

"**Give us the girl."** The leader said. Sokka scoffed,

"**No."** He said, putting an arm in front of her. One of the men shifted his feet, and Toph shifted hers faster, sending the man flying, hitting a tree somewhere in the distance. Sokka tossed his boomerang at the lead man, and it sailed straight past his head, and whirled away. Sokka and Emi moved backwards as the benders began taking on the others. Masami whipped water up to defend herself, and she got nearer to a small creek, probably an extension of the previous one they'd fought near, and she created a small wave of water, washing it up onto a embankment stretching above their heads, and she froze the spray, running along it, and sliding. She then sent a waterwhip turned dagger barrage at the men's heads. They ducked, but not quick enough as the ice shards cut their faces, and pinned one to a tree.

Aang took out the last few with an large blast of air, blowing them into a wall. One of them that was able to get up went straight for Emi and Sokka, but Emi squeaked, and lashed out with the club, nailing him straight on the head, knocking him out. Then, it came down to the man in charge. The group started to close in on him, but before anyone could strike, a metal object whizzed past Aang's ear, making him jerk away. Sokka's boomerang shot straight through the group, and smashed into the back of the leaders head.

"**Boomerang!"** Sokka cried happily as he caught his weapon. He smiled, and he slipped it back into its bag and they all moved towards Appa before anyone could wake up, after this defeat, they had a feeling they wouldn't be followed again.

Once in the air, Emi spoke up,

"**He's an Airbender…aren't they dead?"** She asked Masami, her brow furrowed. The group exchanged glances,

"**I guess Aang being the Avatar didn't get brought up, huh?"** Toph tossed out there. Masami smiled lightly, and she shrugged,

"**Guess not…"** She smiled, Emi seemed stunned,

"**The…Avatar?" **She breathed. Aang nodded with a smile, she smiled back,

"**I never would have guessed."** She said gently.

"**I thought the same thing when I met him."** Masami spoke up with a smile, then entered into their introduction story, making for an amusing story of pirates, shoe boats, water bending scrolls and losing her sister to the angry boy ("Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this! The Lotus Tile was in my sleeve the whole time!")

XOXO

Kali, Lee, and the rest of the town stared on in horror as Zuko rose amidst the flames, baring his teeth angrily in a fierce scowl. He looked genuinely frightening. Gow took a fighting stance defensively and Zuko rushed him, flinging flames forth from his swords. The second blast broke through Gow's defense and knocked far back into a wall. He looked up, defeated, as Zuko stood before him.

**"Who...who are you?"**

**"My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai," he continued, sheathing his swords, "Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne."**

Kali stared at him. What was he thinking? Why now? And why'd he blown their cover in the first place? They could have finished him with swords together. The townsfolk exchanged talk anxiously. Kali retrieved Zolo hastily, sure she knew what would come next. The old man from before shouted angrily at Zuko.  
**  
"Liar! I heard of you. You're not a prince, you're an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!"**

Zuko scowled at the man then bent down towards Gow, who cringed in fear. Retrieving the knife he'd given Lee, Zuko stood and walked over to where Sela was untying Lee. Meanwhie, the old man turned back to Kali.

**"And who are you supposed to be exactly? His nanny?!"**

She scowled at him.

**"No."**

She moved quickly to join Zuko, keeping her swords unsheathed, seeing that some of the villagers had already retrieved pitchforks or other tools and picked up rocks. Zuko, meanwhile, knelt down before Lee, whom Sela was standing in front of protectively.

**"Here. It's yours,"** he said, extending the dagger towards Lee, **"You should have it."**

**"No, I hate you!"** replied the boy nastily, a stung look of anger on his face. Then he turned and walked away with his mother. Zuko stood slowly, stared after them for a moment, an unreadable look on his face. Kali put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at her.

**"Zuko,"** she said softly, **"We need to get out of here."**

He nodded weakly and they mounted Zolo. By now, the townsfolk were all clustering around them, holding rocks and various other potential weapons. One person even had the gall to actually throw at rock at Zuko, but Kali deflected it. Zuko led them out of town while she watched the crowd warily. She caught sight of Sela with a pitchfork holding Lee beside her. Lee looked away as they passed.

Once outside of the town, Kali relaxed a little bit more, staring sadly at the landscape around them. They'd saved that little kid. But because Zuko had revealed himself as a firebender, they'd been rewarded with a potential stoning. It was sad how divided the war had made the countries and their peoples. Not that she couldn't understand the villagers' point of view, especially once Zuko had introduced himself. Nonetheless, what he'd done in town had been a good thing and they'd treated him like a monster anyway. She spoke to the back of his head.

**"That was a great thing you did, going back to help Lee like that. Just too bad you ended up firebending. We could have taken him together with just the swords, you know...What made you decide to show them who you were?"**

Zuko remained silent and Kali thought he wouldn't answer. But then, in a bitter sounding tone,

**"Someone important once told me to never forget who I was. In that town, for a moment, I thought I'd forgotten. I just...needed to know that I hadn't."  
**  
She thought about how he'd identified himself. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, heir to the throne. He'd mentioned his mother first, she noted. She frowned at his back, lowering her head, knowing his mindset was no different right now from those of the villagers who'd run them out of the town. He was separate from them, too different to admit a common ground in his eyes. And he was determined that it should stay that way.


	11. DAMN IT, ZUKO!

As the group started traveling again, Masami could tell the weather was changing. Appa was shedding, her allergies were acting up, and everything was beginning to get prettier, except her mood. As they landed, they all began to unload stuff, except for Toph who made her tent and began to walk off, stopping to speak,

**"Hey, you guys picked a great campsite. The grass is so soft."** She cooed, wiggling her toes.

_**"**_**That's not grass. Appa's shedding."** Sokka said flatly,

**"Oh, gross!"** Emi admonished, scrapping hair off her clothes,

**"That's not gross; it's just a part of spring."** Aang said with a smile, patting Appa. All eyes went to singing birds and a small butterfly, and Momo eating the butterfly ruined the pretty scene. Masami rolled her eyes at the lemur. He was a moment killer more often recently.

_**"**_**You know, rebirth, flowers blooming, and Appa gets a new coat!"** Aang said happily. Masami looked up at Appa, and he sneezed, blowing hair all over her, and in turn making her sneeze.

**"Lovely."**She said with a congested sniffle. She wasn't allergic to Appa unless he was like this, it seemed.

_**"**_**It's not that bad, Masami. It makes a great wig!"** Sokka cried, standing and lifting his head to reveal a mass amount of white hair on top of it, Masami rolled her eyes, but Emi cracked a smile.

**"And a great beard!"** Aang added, this time Masami did smile, as the boys laughed at each other.

**"Are they always such…"** Emi seemed at a loss for words.

"**Boys? Yes."** Masami finished with an eye roll. All eyes went to Toph as she spoke,

**"Excuse me, does anyone have a razor…because I've got some hairy pits!"** She said, lifting her arms, exposing mass amounts of white hair. Masami let her eyes roll again, but she did smile as she turned her back for a second. Before she knew what hit her, she was pushed a few feet away, and her rob was blown open, the tie made belt in the middle going someplace unseen. Masami looked down slowly, and she sighed,

"**I'm sorry!"** Aang cried, pulling himself out of the hair, not fully realizing what he'd done. He got up, and looked towards the sigh, and his cheeks darkened as she pulled her rob closed.

"**Masami! I didn't mean to! I'm so so so so so so sorry!"** He cried, moving to catch up to her retreating form. She looked as he grabbed her arm,

"**It's alright** Aang." She smiled, leaning over to kiss his head.

"**But…can you help me find my belt?"** She blushed, pulling her rob around her small form as he rushed away to look for the belt he'd blown off. She should have been mad…but she couldn't be angry with him, not for something like that.

XOXO

Kali could hear the voices distantly. She was still asleep but the sounds that told her they were in a village slowly began to bring her back to consciousness. She heard familiar words float in the air around her but couldn't make sense of them. The word 'Avatar' reached her ears and conjured instant images of Masami and a boy whom Kali couldn't focus on so well. Abruptly, she felt herself being roughly shaken from sleep as the ostrich horse began galloping. Her head slipped across Zuko's back and she caught herself, lifting it up to blink sleepily. She stretched stiffly. It looked to be some time in the afternoon. They'd been traveling nonstop ever since they'd heard about Azula following the Avatar.

**"Pick up her track?"** she asked blearily.

**"Yes,"** came the fierce, determined reply.

Kali had a feeling there would be no sleep from here on out. Not with Zolo galloping at full speed. She looked over Zuko's shoulder and spotted a pair of enormous wheel tracks which must have come from the huge tank-like thing Azula was said to be riding in. She sighed aloud, thinking of the Avatar (Aang, right?), Masami, and their friends. She hoped they'd be alright. After all, the fire princess was a big threat, even moreso than Zuko. She was, according to Uncle, greatly gifted when it came to firebending and very cunning. Kali had seen the cold, calculating look in her eyes when they'd first met and she had no doubt the princess was ruthless. Besides that, she had lots of resources. After all, she was the one riding in the tank. Meanwhile, Zuko was stuck riding on an ostrich horse with a girl who was technically supposed to be on the Avatar's side since her sister was with him. Which brought up another worry to Kali's mind. What would she do once she and Zuko caught up with them?

Of course, Zuko might try to ditch her before they got there but even if he did, she'd find a way to catch up. She had to, after all. Her sister was in danger. But even if he didn't, what then? Attack him? Attack the Avatar? Attacking Azula seemed her best option and that would probably be the most dangerous move she could make. Her already tired mind felt even more exhausted just thinking about it. What a mess. But whatever, she'd get there when she got there...

XOXO

As the day progressed, Aang began to get more and more irked with the fact that Toph was doing nothing. As night fell, Masami worked on getting food going, Emi was getting wood to keep the little fire going, and the boys were finishing working with Appa. As they finished, Aang slowly approached Toph,

**"So, Toph, usually when setting up camp we try to divide up the work."** He explained, Masami looking in his direction warily.

_**"**_**Hey, don't worry about me, I'm good to go."** Toph said nonchalantly.

_**"**_**Well, actually, what I'm trying to say is, uh, some of us might fetch water while someone else might set up the fire pit or put up the tent. Even Momo does his fair share."** He explained, as Momo flew over, and dropped some nuts into his hand that he'd found.

"I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, I've already collected my own food, and look, my tent's all set up. " **Toph explained, still lazing about. Aang's forehead twitched,**

_**"**_**Well, that's great for you, but we still need to finish —** " He said, as she sat up, cutting him off.

_**"I**_** don't understand. What's the problem here?"** Toph snapped at him. Masami's eyes never left the pair, and she could feel her eyes narrow, but Aang stormed off before she could say anything.

**"Never mind."** He snapped, moving back towards Appa. Masami's eyes followed him as he past, but he didn't look down.

XOXO

Zuko still hadn't stopped to switch drivers, though they'd been riding several hours now. He must be completely exhausted, thought Kali, I'm wiped out and I was the last one to get any sleep.

**"Zuko, pull off for a sec and switch. I promise, it won't take long at all. Cut yourself some slack, you've been driving since we last ate."**

**"There's no time,"** he grunted back.

**"You really think a minute for us to slow down, switch, and start up again will make that much of a difference? We've been riding nearly non-stop now since last night when you found out about Azula."**

**"I can't let her get to him first,"** he glowered, **"He's mine. She has no right to go after him! She's doing this just to make things worse for me!"  
**  
**"Well, she is trying to capture you too after all…what better way than to capture the person you're trying to capture?"**

He glanced back at her, revealing bloodshot eyes and the beginnings of dark circles beneath his eyes.

**"She's always been like this,"** he growled, **"Always doing everything she could to make my life hell. Even when we were little."  
**  
Kali sighed.

**"Zuko, just pull over and get it over with already. You look ready to drop and your voice sounds even more strained than usual. It's either that or somehow I try to climb over you while we're riding."**  
**  
"Guess you'll have to try it then because we're not stopping."**

**"What?!"** Kali leaned over a bit so that she could at least look him in one eye, **"Look, I'm only insisting we do this for your own good. You look like you could pass out from exhaustion any minute. As it is, neither of us is going to get any real decent sleep at this point with Zolo galloping like this. Besides, we'll have to stop anyway at some point for him to get some water at least, if not some food. He's doesn't have your crazy nonstop drive and insane mission to fuel him after all. Now gimme those reins!"  
**  
She reached past his shoulder and grabbed them, slowing Zolo. Zuko tugged them back angrily and Zolo swung to the left. They struggled for control of the reins, Kali raising herself to reach over his other shoulder with her other arm to grab the reins from that side as well. She became the ultimate example of a back-seat driver, forcing the ostrich-horse to slow as she clung to the reins from behind Zuko, with her arms on either side of his head and the rest of her body tightly pressed against his from behind. Zuko fought to remove her hands from the reins.

**"DON'T MAKE ME COME BACK THERE!"** he shouted angrily and somewhat irrationally due to his lack of sleep.

**"We're pulling over!"** she shouted back as Zolo swerved about the road and whined, eventually coming to an abrupt stop due to a yank from Zuko and sending them tumbling to the ground. They fell together in the dust but immediately stood, glaring at each other irritably.

**"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO MAKE THINGS MORE DIFFICULT?!"** he yelled.

**"Me?! You're the one who made things difficult! We needed to stop for a bit eventually but, no, you couldn't be bothered with the needs of normal people and animals, which, by the way, you are one of. You insisted we had to keep going even though you know full well you'd only end up driving us to the point of fainting from fatigue. Even if we DID catch up with Azula and Aang before fainting, we'd hardly be up for fighting. We'd be beaten in a second. How do you expect to fight your sister and the Avatar at the same time, both of whom have beaten you before, when you're utterly spent?!"**

They glowered at each other while Zolo happily munched away on some nearby grass.

**"I'd find a way! I have to, it's the only choice I have. I don't need you lecturing me right now! You sound like my uncle. And what do you expect to do when we get there anyway?! Aren't you supposed to be on the Avatar's side with your sister?! Since you're already making things harder, why don't you just go ahead and leave me behind while you're at it too?! It's not like it matters. Either way, everything's against me, as usual."**

That last outburst having apparently spent what was left of his energy at the moment, Zuko collapsed to his knees, then sulkily sprawled out. Zolo walked over and nibbled at his hair. Kali wearily led the ostrich horse away from him and poured him some water in a nearby little hole. Zolo drank greedily while Kali followed Zuko's example and collapsed against the now laying down ostrich horse. She closed her eyes for a second and was gone.

XOXO

As the night wore on, Aang calmed down a bit. He and Sokka worked on Appa, and were at last removing his basket. Aang used Airbending to get it off, and sent it hurdling towards Sokka's head as he stood on the ground.

"**Aaaah!" **Sokka screamed as the basket landed on him. Masami looked up as Aang jumped out of the saddle,

_**"**_**Sorry!"** He cried, getting the basket off Sokka. Masami rolled her eyes and she looked as Aang glanced at her smiling lightly, then she looked over towards Toph, and his face fell lightly. He sighed, and he moved towards her quietly.

_**"**_**Hey Toph, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I think we're all just a little tired and getting on each others' nerves**." He said, scratching his head,

**  
"Yeah, you do seem pretty tired."** He said flatly, trying not to get aggravated.

_**"**_**I meant all of us."** He reiterated.

_**"**_**Well, goodnight."** Toph dismissed, laying on her chest inside the tent.

_**"**_**Goodnight."** He sighed defeatedily, moving back towards Masami. He dropped next to her with a sigh.

"**I don't get it."** He groaned, she looked up, faking like she hadn't watched the whole thing,

"**Get what?"**

"**Her! Why won't she help?"**

"**She's just..not used to how we do things, she'll come around."** Masami assured with a smile, though she wasn't sure of that.

"**I guess."** He sighed. She leaned over and grabbed the front of his robs, bringing their lips together,

"**Don't fret so much, it's not like you."** She said with smile. He smiled back, their faces nearly touching,

"I'll try, but I think I'm going to need a bit of cheering up tonight. I'm in a pretty nasty mood."

"**Oh? Well let's fix that."** She said with a smile, closing the distance between them again, his lips falling out of a smile as they did.

XOXO

Kali felt her head fall to the ground as Zolo shifted away. She could hear the ostrich horse scratching for a moment, then heard Zuko. She groaned and forced herself to crack an eye open. It was still night and from the looks of the moon, they hadn't been there for too long. She closed her eye again and stiffly rolled over to get up, hearing Zolo walking as she did so. Then she heard him running. She opened her eyes and jumped to her feet. He was ditching her, just as she'd feared. Well, fuck. And she'd let him get away with it too! Not yet though, she grimaced, giving chase. The ostrich horse hadn't started running full force yet. She sprinted after him.

**"DAMN IT, ZUKO!"** she yelled.

Realizing she couldn't possibly catch them this way, she decided to try the technique she'd used to fly into the air back at the Yings' home. She jumped and shot to jets of fire behind her, hoping to propel herself forward. It worked initially, sending her whizzing up behind him, startling her. She lost control, though, and fell, skidding face first into the ground not too far behind them. She lifted up her sore face to see Zuko glance back at her as he galloped farther away on her ostrich horse. She allowed herself the release of pounding the ground and groaning angrily in frustration, fire emitting from her mouth. She'd learned that from watching him, she knew. After a few minutes of telling her surroundings just what she thought of him, as well as what she thought of her failed jetting attempt and the ground she'd landed on and this entire journey, she picked herself up and forced herself to calm down. She needed a new way to travel faster. Noting their location and putting together a few other remembered facts, she began striding purposely towards where she hoped was her ticket to catching up. When she found him again, she resolved, they were going to have a few choice words about this.

XOXO

The night wore on, and gradually everyone went to sleep. Sokka and Emi curled close to each other, Aang and Masami slept on Appa's leg, Momo on his head; and Toph away from the rest of them. Suddenly, Masami woke up as Aang's hold on her broke.

"**There's something coming toward us!"** Toph cried. Masami rubbed her eyes. Aang looked towards her,

_**"**_**What is it?"** He asked sleepily. Toph stood, and moved towards the middle of camp.

_**"**_**It feels like an avalanche… But also not like an avalanche."** She said, her hand on the ground before her as she knelt.

"**Your powers of perception are frightening."** Sokka yawned, Emi giving him a look.

**"Should we leave?"** Masami asked.  
**"Better safe than sorry."** Aang spoke up, everyone starting to move about, collecting their things. Smoke could be coming from the thing just being the trees. They all clamored aboard Appa, and they took off. Masami, Sokka and Emi looked over the side of the saddle.

_**"**_**What is that thing?"** Emi asked, holding Sokka's arm. The group shook their heads. The machine looked sort of like a train, and it moved as a face pace after them. The group flew towards the moon, away from the machine. They flew for what seemed like hours. Masami nodded off sometime after they'd taken off, leaning against the top of the saddle, closest to Appa head, and Aang. She didn't know what was following them, she didn't want to, but she was glad to be safe, at least for the time being.

XOXO

Kali, for her part, was quite surprised this plan had worked. Squirrelopes and chipmunk elk traveled together through this area of the Earth Kingdom in herds she knew, on their way to the north for spring and summer. It was early spring time, but they were usually still on the move. The dangerous thing about dealing with squirrelopes and chipmunk elk though was that, despite their great skittishness, they still had some nasty antlers and big buck teeth. Kali had been lucky though. She'd stumbled on a good size herd sleeping not too far from the road. Quietly and stealthily sneaking up behind a good size rock, she'd leapt on to one of the animals on the edges of the herd and managed to land on its back. Staying on it was an incredible challenge. She'd clung to the shrieking and squeaking chipmunk elk for dear life while the rest of the herd panicked and began stampeding along with it. Seeing the tracks she needed to follow up ahead breaking away from the road, she'd had shot a mild string of fire to her left. The herd had turned and begun following the tracks. Kali's panicking ride had, by now, reached the head of the herd and was leading it along the tracks wherever Kali steered it. She wondered how long the poor animal would be able to keep running. So long as it was up to the task, though, she could at least move quickly this way for the time being. She stared ahead along the long, seemingly endless trail ahead. Tonight would be a very rough night.

XOXO

Masami was roused as Appa landed, and Toph screamed,

**"Ahh, land, sweet land! See you guys in the morning!"** She cried, making Masami's head throb. Aang slid off Appa, and spoke lightly,

**"Actually, can you help us unload?"** He asked. Toph scoffed,

_**"**_**Really? You need me to help unload Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag?"** As she said that, Emi looked down at the sleeping bag she held, took a few whiffs and looked as though she may have been sick.

**"Well, yeah. That and everything else. You're a part of our team now and— "** Aang started. Masami groggily stood, and saw Toph a little too close to Aang, and not speaking in a tone she much cared for. Aang backed off a bit, and he looked down for a second, then back up, slightly alarmed as she spoke,

_**"Look**_**. I didn't ask **_**you**_** to help unload **_**my**_** stuff. I'm carrying my own weight."** Toph snapped, and so did Masami's patience.

"**That's not the point."** Aang started, but was cut off.

_**"ENOUGH!"**_Masami screeched, making the group jump. She had since dismounted Appa and made her way towards the pair. She put herself between the blind Earthbender and her Avatar.

"**Look Toph, ever since you've been here, you've been a pain in everyone's ass. So just do your part and this won't be an issue anymore. I don't like seeing Aang upset and he is frequently so with you, and I will not tolerate it anymore. If you make him mad again, you're going to regret it."** She said as calmly as she could through clenched teeth, a throbbing head and her temper flaring from lack of sleep.

**"**_**What **_** Look here, sugar queen, I gave up everything I had so that I could teach Aang earthbending, so don't you talk to me about being selfish! "** Toph said, slamming herself into another rock tent. Masami stormed off the other direction, whipping herself into a bubble, and using it to muffle her scream of agitation.

XOXO

Kali's steed and its herd were beginning to wear themselves out at this point and she knew it was time to let them rest. As it was, she needed some rest herself. Her arms and legs were sore from clinging to terrified animal for so long. She wondered how long she'd kept them running. Not long enough, no doubt. Her chipmunk elk had slowed down a good deal by now and she dropped to the ground from it and rolled to get out of the way of the rest of the herd, which had also slowed to a trot. The exhausted animal that had been carrying her collapsed not too far from her as she forced herself to stand and stumble away from the animals. She flopped down beside the tracks they'd been following and studied the huge tire tracks for a moment. Then she moved to search for Zuko's tracks, which were very hard to see in the dark. Eventually though, with a little help from a small orb of flames in her hand, she found them. Despite how tired and sore she felt, she knew she had to keep following them. She needed to be there to help…someone. Her sister. And the Avatar. She supposed she'd help Zuko if he needed it against Azula. Whatever. She'd try to help at least. She'd be tired but maybe they would be too. After all, they might have been traveling all night too. She knew Zuko had been at least. These things whirled around in her mind as she walked a long slowly behind the tracks. She extinguished the flames and took a sip from her water skin, trying to conserve her energy. She needed to find a way to move faster…but, without an animal to ride, she didn't know what she'd do now. Not yet.

XOXO

The night was pretty much quiet save for the little whispers that came from Aang and Masami, the snores from Sokka and the heavier breathing from Emi.

"**You get so angry."** He whisper with a slight smile, she shrugged,

"**It's happened since I was a kid. I don't mean to get so angry."** She was being truthful. As a kid, she'd been pushed around whenever Kali wasn't around, so eventually she cracked, and became the spitefully angry girl she was now. She closed her eyes, rolling her face into the crook of Aang's neck. He kissed her head, and she looked up at him, and he connect their lips for a second before they were launched a few feet in the air, Aang falling one way and Masami landing on Sokka, who screamed.

"**Hey, how is a guy supposed to sleep with all this talking and earthquaking?!"** All looked up Toph as her tent collapsed and she sat up.

"**That thing is back!"** She cried, all looking towards the woods.

"**How far off is it? I think we could sleep for a bit longer…"** Sokka said, closing his eyes until Aang spoke,

"**I don't think so Sokka."** All looked to see it coming back into view. They all clambered back to Appa, who groaned from fleeing again.

"**What is that?!"**

"**How does it keep following us?!"**

"**I don't know, but we're losing it for good this time."** Aang finished all questions as they took off into the sky again.

XOXO

Kali walked along hastily, not quite willing to run but still trying to keep moving at a decent pace. She yawned. She'd never catch up at this rate. Damn Zuko. She knew why he'd done it but that didn't make it any better. She was still pretty pissed off. Her thoughts went to Uncle and how Zuko'd ditched him too. She wondered how he was doing. She couldn't imagine that he'd just given up on Zuko. He was probably following him too. Too bad they couldn't just run into each other now. Uncle would know how to make things seem better. He always had something wise to say, a recipe to share, or a tea joke of some kind to crack.

She heard a noise to her left and glanced up from the tracks. Was that...a saber toothed moose lion? Didn't they sleep during the night? She scowled to herself as she froze, staring at it. No. They slept a lot throughout the day. They hunted during the day and the night. She thought about the chipmunk elk and squirrelopes she'd left behind. Its natural prey. Too bad they weren't here. The moose lion's eyes glittered as it eyed her for a moment, then it lunged forward, snarling. She jumped back and started to run instinctively. Recognizing this was futile though as the moose lion towered above her, pouncing, she took a defensive stance, pulling a wall of flames up in front of her as a shield. The moose lion jumped back and snarled. Unwilling to give up though, it circumvented the wall and charged her again. She lashed out at it with a fire whip. Making a decision (sure, what the hell? why not try it?), she launched herself above the moose lion. She was getting a bit better at this, it seemed, and managed to land on the startled beast. Naturally, the moose lion was most displeased by this turn of events and thrashed about. She wrapped herself tightly around one antler, holding on for dear life. This was even worse than the chipmunk elk had been.

Eventually, she found it necessary to give up on riding the moose lion. It was too unpredictable and wild. After having dealt with its fierce rebuttal to her attempts to ride it or lead it, she let herself fall from it and managed to scare it off by raising a bigger wall of fire to tower over it. She sighed and, knowing she'd lost even more time, found the tracks again and started jogging at a steady pace.

XOXO

The group flew again for what felt like forever, but it was only minutes...or hours...or maybe it was days. Masami was so tired she was beyond caring. When they did land, everyone nearly rolled out of the saddle and to the ground.

**"Okay, forget about setting up camp. I'm finding the softest pile of dirt and going to sleep."** Sokka groaned.

**"That's good, because Toph wasn't going to help anyway."** Aang snipped.

**"Oh, I didn't realize baby still needed someone to tuck him in bed."** She snapped back. Masami rolled her eyes.

**"Come on guys, there's something after us and we don't even know what or who it is."** Sokka urged. Masami yawned,

**"It could be Zuko. We haven't seen him since the North Pole."** She said, curling herself into Aang for warmth, having been too lazy to get her blanket out.

**"Who's Zuko?"** Toph asked.

**"Oh, just some angry freak with a ponytail who's tracked us all over the world."** Sokka answered,

**"What's wrong with ponytails, ponytail?"** Masami joked sleepily.

**"This is a warrior's wolf tail."** Sokka corrected.

**"If it walks like a turtleduck and talks like a turtleduck, it's probably a turtleduck."** Masami reasoned half heartedly, her breath coming out against Aang's neck, making him giggle.

**"Anyway, whoever's chasing us, they couldn't have followed us here. So… now would everyone just sshhh! No, Momo, ssh! Sleepy time."** Sokka put his finger to his mouth at the lemur. Momo then jumpped off Sokka and onto Aang, making loud noises, his ears twitching. Aang sat up.

**"Aww, don't tell me…"** Sokka whined. Masami sat up with Aang and Toph did slowly, placing her feet to the ground.

**"That's impossible. There's no way they could have tracked us."** Masami slurred.

**"I can feel it with my own two feet!"** Toph cried. Aang stood, and ran towards a ledge, and sure enough, there they were, smoking up the air around them, gradually getting closer to them.

**"Let's get out of here!"** Sokka said. Aang shook his head, looking back at them,

**"Maybe we should face them. Find out who they are. Who knows, maybe they're friendly**." He reasoned, Sokka rolled his eyes,

**"Always the optimist."**

Masami frowned worriedly as the huge tank-like contraption's door opened. Steam poured out and three familiar girls astride huge lizard creatures came rushing out of it towards them.

**"It's those girls from Omashu!"** cried Masami, alarmed.

**"We can take'em,"** Toph said, as they all struck fighting poses, except for Emi ,who stood back with Appa,  
**  
"Three on three."**

Sokka glanced at Toph.

**"Actually, Toph, there's four of us ready to fight."**  
**  
"Oh,"** she smirked half-heartedly**, "I'm sorry. I didn't count you. You know, no bending and all."  
**  
**"I CAN STILL FIGHT!"** replied Sokka, making an angry face.  
**  
"Okay. Three on three plus Sokka."**

Sokka made an exasperated, angry sound as they all turned back to face the three advancing females. Toph shook her fists, causing rocks to shoot out of the ground in front of them, but the lizard creatures scaled them swiftly.

**"Well, we wanted to find out who they were. We found out,"** stated Sokka worriedly, turning to flee.

Masami and Aang joined him as Toph raised a large wall between them and the girls. Masami turned back as Aang helped her onto Appa and saw the smallest girl in the middle shoot a blue blast of what looked like lightning, breaking through the wall. The tall one shot daggers at Toph, who launched herself into Appa's saddle, avoiding them.

**"Appa, yip yip!"** shouted Aang.

The firebender shot another blast of what Masami was still seeing as lightning at them. But lightning? Really? Was that possible? She, Aang, and the others all looked back at the girls, frightened, as they made their escape.  
Not too long after their encounter, they sat somberly, staring backwards where they'd left the girls.

**"I still think it's crazy those girls followed us all the way from Omashu,"** muttered Masami.

**"Who are they anyway?"** asked Emi of no one in particular.

**"I still think we could've taken'em,"** scoffed Toph stubbornly.

**"Are you kidding me?"** replied Masamii tiredly, **"We're all exhausted. And as if the crazy blue fire-bending and daggers weren't bad enough, last time that girl in the pink did something to take away my bending. All she did was touch me! It was kinda scary."  
**  
They all moaned in unison as the first beams of the rising sun shown over them.  
**  
"Oh no, the sun is rising!"** Sokka groaned loudly, **"We've been up all night without sleep!"**

**"Sokka, we'll be okay,"** responded Aang.

**"ARE YOU SURE?! I've never not slept before! What if I fall asleep now and something happens?! AND SOMETHING ALWAYS HAPPENS!"**

Emi patted him reassuringly.

Aang frowned.

**"Every time we land, those girls are there, so we'll just have to keep flying…for as long as we can anyway…We can't keep flying forever."**

A few minutes later, all of them were nearly asleep. They grumbled a bit about plans but decided sleep would be better. Unfortunately, Appa wasn't nearly asleep. He was completely asleep. Suddenly, they were startled awake as they lurched toward the ground. Appa was falling out of the sky and so were they.

**"What's going on?!"** shouted Toph.

**"Appa fell asleep!"** shouted back Aang.

Emi, shrieking, clung to Sokka, who'd grabbed her and Appa's saddle as they'd begun to fall.

**"Aang!"** screamed Masami.  
**  
"Wake up buddy!"** yelled Aang, crawling down on to Appa's face. Fortunately, Appa woke and they jerked up just above the tree line, still descended fast. Tree branches lashed at their faces as they crash-landed.

**"Everyone okay?"** asked Aang.

The replies were non-committal, but at least they were all still speaking.

XOXO

The sun was rising. Kali jolted awake. Wha-? What'd happened? She'd been untying her shoes when…hmmm. She'd blacked out. She must have fainted from exhaustion. Ironic, considering she'd told Zuko he was the one who'd work them to that point. Though, in a way, she found she could still blame Zuko for this if she wanted to. After all, if he hadn't left her then- well never mind, it wasn't what mattered right now. She looked down at her discarded boots, which she'd collapsed next to. Her idea. She pulled the ties loose the rest of the way and put her boots back on. Then, on second thought, she took them back off. Probably wouldn't work if she left them on. She'd fly right out of them without them properly tied on. She sighed. She positioned the slab not too far from the track and stepped on to it, then secured her holey sock-covered feet onto it with the ties, tying triple knots and tugging hard on them to make sure she didn't come loose from it. In the rising sunlight, she could see that the slab was actually more of a plate…metal, it looked like. Well, it would do, hopefully.

She lifted her hands, glanced behind her for a sec. Then she took a deep breath and looked forward at the horizon where the trail led. Hope this works, she thought. Bracing herself, she swung her hands back behind her sharply and let loose two jets of flames. She shot forward at an unexpectedly frightening speed. She gritted her teeth and leaned forward into the resistant air mass which was now pounding against her, chilling her despite the warmth of the newly risen sun. It was working alright! And it was both exhilarating and terrifying. The surrounding landscape blurred but she kept her eyes fixed ahead on the deep ruts left by the tank before her. She dodged rocks and bushes in her way, just barely managing to see them in time to swerve. She'd have to keep a sharp eye out always for obstacles. She guessed if she hit something at this speed, she'd probably be missing her entire face after she fell instead of just having one little cut. Oh well. It was a chance she needed to take, she thought, as she stared determinedly ahead.

XOXO

Aang sighed, **"Appa's exhausted…"**

**"Okay, we've put a lot of distance between us and them. The plan now is to follow Appa's lead and get some sleep."**

**"Sounds gre-"** started Emi, the cut off as she collapsed to the ground in front of Sokka, falling asleep in mid-sentence.

Toph dropped to ground as well and Aang frowned crankily and muttered under his breath.

**"Course, we could have gotten more sleep earlier if Toph didn't have issues…"**

**Toph grabbed the ground angrily, shrieking, "What'd you say?!"**

Masami's temper, so short by now it was virtually non-existent, flared.

**"You heard him! You've got issues!"**

Toph stomped over while Masami clenched her fists. Aang quickly changed his tone.

**"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. We don't need to get into this now, we just need some sleep**."

**"No!"** growled Toph**, "I want to hear it! You guys think I have issues?!"**

Masami glared at her fiercely as Aang tried to pacify Toph.  
**  
" Look, all I meant was that if you'd helped earlier we could have probably gotten more sleep and-"**

**"THEN MAYBE WE WOULDN'T BE SO DAMN TIRED!"** inserted Masami.

**"YOU'RE BLAMING ME FOR THIS?!"** shouted Toph, advancing towards Masami, who gestured for Toph to bring it on. Aang tried to block her but Masami stormed past him. For once, her attention was more on Toph than it was on Aang.

**"Yeah! I'm blaming you! You've pissed off my Avatar for the last time! All you've done since you joined us is act like a bitch and if you'd actually been helpful for a change earlier, we MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN MORE SLEEP!"**

Toph yelled back at her.

**"Hey! I never asked you for DIDDLY FUCKIN' DO DA! I CARRY MY OWN FUCKIN' WEIGHT! And if there's anyone to blame for this, it's Sheddy over here!"**

She gestured at Appa. Aang looked at her in surprise.

**"What? You're blaming Appa?!"**

**"YEAH! You wanna know how they keep finding us?!"**

She grabbed a hunk full of Appa's shedded hair.

**"He's leaving a trail everywhere we go!"**

Aang lost it.

**"How dare you blame Appa?! He saved your life three times today! If there's anyone to blame, it's you! You always say you carry your own weight but you're not. He is! Appa's carrying your weight! And you never do anything to make things easier for anyone!"**

Toph started to respond but Masami cut her off.

**"JUST SHUT YOUR FUCKIN' MOUTH!"**

Angry and tired as she was, before she could think, she'd opened her water skin and whipped Toph, causing her to stumble back a bit. Toph responded by knocking her against Appa. Sokka and Aang jumped between them then.

**"Wait,"** said Sokka, becoming the voice of reason, **"Let's not go physical with this."**

Aang said nothing but helped Masami up and glared at Toph. For a moment, Masami and Toph just stared at each other. Then Toph kicked her bag up into her arms.

**"I'm out of here."**

Sokka tried to stop her, but to no avail. They all watched her leave. Masami, not over her anger yet, trapped herself in a bubble again, using water from the nearby river. She screamed in frustration, feeling like she wanted to punch something repeatedly for a good long while. She decided to indulge that feeling, pounding at the ground for a bit. Eventually, she began to come back to her senses. As her heartbeat slowed and her temper began to cool, she felt the beginnings of remorse. She was still furious at Toph and still knew she had been in the right, but she knew now the water whip had been a mistake, even if it'd felt good. She let the bubble drop around her and Aang approached her. She looked up at him miserably as he knelt beside her.

**"I can't believe I just yelled at my earth teacher. Now she's gone…"**

Feelings of guilt surged in Masami, more for how this affected Aang than how it affected Toph.

**"I'm so sorry, Aang. It's all my fault…I shouldn't have water-whipped her…"**

Aang's response was a hug.

**"No it's not all your fault. You can't just blame yourself. We're just all trying to get used to each other. We were all to blame."**

He paused.

**"We have to find her. I have to apologize."**

**"No you don't,"** replied Masami hastily, **"I'll apologize. I don't want to but if it'll help bring her back, I will. Just for the water-whip though."  
**  
She sighed. She really had liked Toph a lot until all of this had started. She was feeling pretty badly about hitting her now. Toph had really pushed her though.

**"Well, if we're going to find her, we'd better start looking soon,"** reasoned Sokka from the river,

**"But first, what are we gonna do about the tank of dangerous ladies chasing us?"**

**"We'll clean Appa,"** Aang sighed, looking at the clumps of shedded fur around Appa,

**"Toph was right about him leaving a trail. But once he's clean, we won't have to worry about that anymore."**

Begrudgingly, they set about cleaning him, once Sokka had woken Emi and told her the plan.

XOXO

Zuko grimaced at the horizon as the sun rose higher in the sky. He'd been tracking Azula non-stop since he'd left Kali behind. Zolo was beginning to slow down, his breath audibly heavy now, and Zuko urged him on forcefully. I can't stop now, he thought. He could see a huge dust cloud far away, silhouetted against the horizon and knew surely that must be from the tank he was pursuing. He glowered, thinking of Azula. As usual, she had to make things harder. His thoughts wandered back to when they'd been kids. His eyelids drooped closed from exhaustion but he held the reins steady, still leaning heavily forward on the ostrich-horse.

_The beach. He'd been 6 and she'd been 4. They'd chased each other along happily down the sandy shore while their parents had relaxed in the shade of an umbrella with servants attending them. Azula'd run around a corner and when he'd turned it, she'd disappeared. At first, he'd assumed she was just hiding and playing a game so he'd searched for her, playfully calling for her. But the longer it took for him to find her, the more worried he'd gotten that something bad had happened to her._

_**"Azula,"**__ he'd called frantically, then run back to his parents._

_**"I can't find Azula,"**__ he'd told them worriedly, __**"She's gone!"**__  
_  
_His parents had started up, looking alarmed. His father had immediately summoned servants and had just started to give them orders when she'd appeared from the opposite direction where Zuko had been, laughing._

_**"Azula, where have you been?"**__ their father had demanded._

_**"I was just playing a game with Zuzu, Father,"**__ she'd smiled sweetly, giggling, then looking over at him,_

_**"I was right behind you the whole time, dumb-dumb! You're so silly!"**__ she giggled again while Zuko blushed and looked up at his father, who looked at him with a disappointed expression. His father'd dismissed the servants and his mother had asked Azula not to do that again, asserting that she'd had them all worried._

Zuko felt himself slumping forward and jerked himself up, opening his eyes and peering through blurred vision ahead. Even then, she'd gotten the best of him. He gritted his teeth and tried to clear his vision. No more, he assured himself determinedly. At that moment, however, he was thrown to the ground as Zolo stumbled over a rock. Zuko picked himself up ruefully and looked back at the ostrich-horse collapsed on the ground and panting heavily. He waited for him to rise but Zolo just lay there, his tongue lolling out. Zuko strode over and tugged at the reins, urging him up.

**"Get up, you stupid ostrich-horse!"  
**  
Zolo wouldn't budge however, no matter how much Zuko tugged the reins or shoved him. After a few minutes of grunting in frustration and pushing him to no avail, Zuko dropped the ground beside him, sighing. Kali'd been right, it seemed. The ostrich-horse had been worked to exhaustion. He needed a break. Zuko took a sip from his water skin, which was now nearly empty. He looked back at the ostrich-horse and groaned, recognizing he probably needed to share his water supply with Zolo if he expected him to be ready to ride later. Seeing no source of water in the immediate area, Zuko grudgingly poured a small swallow of his remaining water in the ostrich-horse's mouth. He leaned back against Zolo and pulled his hat low. Since they weren't going anywhere, he might as well get some rest as well. His thoughts went to Kali. He wondered where she was right now. Surely, she'd gone back to the last town they'd passed through after he'd left her. They hadn't been that far from it, had they? It'd only been a few hours since they'd passed it when he'd left her sprawling in the dust so…he wasn't sure how long of a walk it was. But still, she'd have made it back, he told himself. She could handle herself and what was the worst that could have happened? His thoughts went to moose lions and bandits and that group of rhino riders they'd been attacked by a week or so ago. He scowled as he drifted off to sleep. She'd be fine. She had to be…

XOXO

Sokka wrung out his shirt as they all stood beside a sopping wet, but clean Appa.

**"Aang, are you sure he's okay to fly?"**

**"He'll be fine as long as we leave his saddle and all our stuff behind,"** Aang replied, picking up a few clumps of Appa's fur and stuffing them in his bag,  
**  
"I'm going to use the fur to make a fake trail and lead the tank off course. You guys go on and look for Toph."**

Masami looked at him worriedly, clutching his arm.

**"Aang, are you sure you'll be okay? I don't like that idea."**

**"I'll be fine, Masami,"** he tried to smile reassuringly,

**"You guys find Toph. I'll find you guys again later."**

Without another word, he flew away. Masami watched him fly away uneasily, until she felt Sokka's hand on her shoulder.

**"He'll be fine, Masami. He knows how to handle himself. And we'll turn around and find him as soon as we get Toph."**

She looked up at him and nodded slowly.

Not too long after, they flew along, scanning the ground for Toph.

**"Toph couldn't have gotten too far,"** said Emi. She and Masami looked down as Momo began to screech hysterically.

**"What is it, Momo?"** Masami asked, then looked back to see two of the girls on the lizards right behind them.

**"Sokka, go faster!"** shouted Emi in a panicky voice.

**"C'mon Appa!"** shouted Sokka, then,  
**  
"He's too tired!"**

**"We need to make it across the river,"** returned Masami, as the girls gained ground on them,

**"Just a little farther, Appa!"**

Appa surged forward at the last minute, grazing the surface of the river, and they crashed to the ground on the other side.

**"We made it!"** shouted Emi.

Masami looked back relieved, but the relief was short-lived. She and the others gasped, horrified, as the lizards began to race across the water.

XOXO

Iroh carefully poured the tea into the small cup and extended it towards the young earthbender who'd nailed him in the tailbone a few minutes ago. She squatted beside the fire not too far from him somewhat warily.

**"Here is your tea."**

He looked at her skeptically. Not only did she look to be quite young but she also appeared to be blind.

**"You seem a little too young to be traveling alone."**

She reached out and took the cup without looking as easily as any normal person would.

**"You seem a little too old."**

He laughed.

**"Perhaps I am."**

**"I know what you're thinking,"** she said as he poured himself a cup, **"I look like I can't handle being by myself."  
**  
**"I was not thinking that,"** he replied. After the way she'd knocked him to the ground with her earthbending earlier, how could he? She was obviously quite talented and confident.

**"You wouldn't even let me pour my own tea,"** she replied, taking a sip.

**"I poured your tea because I wanted to and for no other reason,"** he insisted.

She frowned.

**"People see me and think I'm weak. They want to take care of me. But I can take care of myself by myself,"** she finished emphatically.

At that last bit, Iroh sighed.

**"You sound like my nephew. Always thinking you need to do things on your own without anyone's support. There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you."**

He quickly clarified,

**"Not that I love you, errr, I just met you."**

He smiled as she laughed.

**"So, where is your nephew?"** she asked.

**"I've been tracking him, actually."**

**"Is he lost?"**

**"Yes, a little bit. His life has recently changed and he's going through very difficult times. He is trying to figure out who he is…and he went away."**

Iroh brightened.

**"But at least he is not all alone. There is someone who he had to take with him and I am confident she will help him find the right path."**

The girl looked puzzled.

**"He took her but not you?"**

**"Yes. Let's just say she had something he needed and she wasn't willing to part with it so easily. He had to take her. It was either that or walk."**

**"Oh I get it. She owned an ostrich horse or something?"**

**"Yes."**

**"And now you're following them?"**

**"Yes. I know my nephew doesn't want me around right now but, if he needs me, I'll be there."**

The girl stood.

**"Your nephew is very lucky, even if he doesn't know it. To have you and whoever it is he's traveling with,"** she paused, **"Thank you."**

**"My pleasure,"** smiled Iroh, **"Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights."**

**"No, thank you for what you said,"** she replied, **"It helped me."**

**"I'm glad."**

She began to walk away then stopped and turned back to him.

**"Oh, and about your nephew…maybe you should tell him that you need him too."**

Iroh sipped his tea as he watched her leave. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps it was time he rejoined Zuko and Kali. Surely now was as good a time as ever and hopefully, they'd had enough time alone together to have formed a stronger bond by now. He finished his tea, put out the fire, and hastily left to find them.

XOXO

Masami rushed forward, urging the water into a powerful wave which overwhelmed one of the lizards. To her surprise, the girl riding it, the one in the pink, leapt from her lizard and flew through the air to land on the shore. Masami dodged her then whipped up some water and shot several thin discs at her but the girl leapt up into a tree, then jumped back at her. Emi stood back against Appa not far away, looking frightened. Masami gasped as Sokka appeared beside her, slicing aside some small knives which had been headed directly for her. They nodded to each other as Sokka advanced towards the tall girl, throwing his boomerang at her. She avoided it and threw more knives at him. He blocked them with his club ans stood ready to take a swing at her as Masami backed away from the dancing, jabbing girl who bounced back and forth closer to her, avoiding Masami's water whip effectively.

Sokka and Masami found themselves back to back and swapped opponents, Sokka aiming his boomerang at the dancer while Masami turned to confront the knife-thrower, who leapt towards her with two knives in each hand. Masami, taking advantage of her location beside the river, streamed the water into a large wall directly in the girl's path and froze it, causing the knife-thrower to hit the ice solidly and blocking her knives. The girl recovered quickly though and was soon bearing directly down on Masami, who, feeling more fatigued now than ever, attempted to retreat farther away in order to buy time and get her second wind. Unfortunately, she wasn't given time as the girl managed to pin her against a tree with her knives. Masami couldn't break way from the tree to bend and Sokka joined her by it, hopping on one foot then falling. Evidently, the other girl had gotten the best of him.

**"How ya doin'?"** he asked somewhat hopefully.

**"Not so good, really,"** replied Masami, still struggling to free her hands.

The knife-thrower looked down at Sokka then back up at both of them.

**"I thought when Ty Lee and I caught finally caught you guys it would be more exciting."**

Her shoulders slumped and she looked down with a bored expression on her face.

**"Oh well, victory is boring."**

Just as she'd finished saying this, however, she and the other girl (Ty Lee) were blasted from behind,screaming, a good distance through the air and into the river. Masami and Sokka looked over to see Emi with Appa and Momo.

**"Waita go, Appa!"** said Emi.

She smiled at them as she hurried over to help Sokka up.

**"We thought you guys could use some help."**

**"Thanks,"** smiled Sokka weakly, while Momo hopped along Masami, helping her yank the knives free.

**"Thanks,"** said Masami hurriedly, "**Now let's go find Aang! If those girls caught up with us that quickly, it probably means that other girl's found him. "  
**  
Sokka nodded.

**"We'll find Toph later when we're sure Aang's safe."**

They hastily returned to Appa and flew back towards where Aang had left.

XOXO

Zuko'd been fortunate (for once). Following Azula's tracks, he'd glanced to his right and spotted a speck of movement in the sky. It hadn't been moving like a bird and, squinting for a better look, he'd just been able to make out the figure of a person hanging from something and apparently dropping pieces of something behind him. He knew instantly who it was. The Avatar. Finally. Turning Zolo, who'd recovered somewhat, he'd hastened towards the speck without taking his eyes off of it.

After a break which she considered not nearly long enough to what she needed, Kali'd continued following Azula and Zuko's tracks, speeding across the landscape and leaving a billowing trail of dust behind her. She'd kept her eyes focused on the trail in front of her for fear of hitting an obstacle and getting herself killed. The landscape blurred and so did her eyes as she tried to keep them properly focused. By this point, she had a killer headache and was in a terribly cranky mood. Hardly any sleep during the past few days, not enough food, just enough water, and recent events were combining to make her as fierce as a moose lion. And she knew it. But damn if she was going to even try to be nice once she caught up with Zuko. Speaking of which, she needed another break. One thing about this mode of transportation, it was really fast but it used up energy equally as fast if not even faster. She'd nearly clipped a rock a moment ago and her eyes were starting to go cross-eyed again. She paused and sat down on a rock. As she gazed out to her right, trying to think, her eyes observed a small speck in the sky far away and followed it lazily. Realizing it wasn't moving like a bird, she squinted and held a hand up to shade her eyes. Could it be? It had to be. There was no other person that it could be if she wasn't just imagining it was a person up there. She started to stand but her legs gave way and sat her back down. Well, okay, she thought, I guess I'll get up in a few minutes then. She kept her eyes glued to the speck, knowing the Avatar was her key to finding her sister, as well as Zuko and probably Azula.

Zuko grimaced, spurring the ostrich horse on as he spotted the mongoose lizard by the deserted-looking town. Azula. The Avatar had to be there. As he reached the town, he briefly glimpsed the Avatar then heard Azula speak.

**"Do you really want to fight me?"** she asked nonchalantly.

**"Yes,"** growled Zuko as he abruptly inserted himself between Azula and the Avatar, **"I really do."  
**  
He tossed his hat to one side as he stood while Zolo continued away through the town. He heard the Avatar gasp.  
**  
"Zuko!"**

Azula smirked at him.

**"I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu."**

He hated that nickname. The Avatar laughed, mockingly it seemed to Zuko.

**"Zuzu?"** Zuko struck a fighting stance quickly.

**"Back off, Azula! He's mine!"**

**"I'm not going anywhere,"** she replied, striking a fighting stance in response, her smug smile remaining in place.

Zuko glanced back at the Avatar, who looked tired and worried and quickly struck a defensive fighting stance. There was a hush across the city as they all stood still, waiting to see who would make the first move. Zuko, caught in the middle, glanced uneasily back and forth between the Avatar and Azula. He was more concerned about Azula but he couldn't be sure of what the Avatar would do either. Suddenly, he glimpsed a twitch of Azula's mouth as her smile rose and realized just in time she was going to strike. Her blast hit him hard as he blocked it and, tired as he was, he was knocked back against the post of the nearest building. He picked himself up, beginning to realize just how tired he was, and saw the Avatar forced down from the air by Azula. He attacked her, attempting to get her out of this fight so he could get to the Avatar. She, he, and the Avatar traded blows for a moment before he advanced on her, jumping high into the air and slamming his foot down, causing a wall of fire to spring up between them. She blocked it and he jumped back to avoid her responding attack. The Avatar rushed into the top story of a nearby building, followed closely by Azula, and Zuko leapt up to where they'd disappeared. He pelted into the room only to discover there was no floor. He let out a shout of surprise as he took a dive into a pile of rubble below. His sister landed beside him. He reacted too slowly and took a blast to the chest, knocking him through the wall behind him. His vision blurred and he closed his eyes for a moment.

XOXO

Masami was tired. Exhausted really. She should have collapsed at this point and lost consciousness for a while to recover from how wiped out she was really. But right now, none of this mattered.

Upon reaching the abandoned looking desert town where Aang's trail stopped and Azula's lizard and an ostrich horse lingered, Masami didn't need Appa to be able to fly. Seeing flames spreading throughout the city and hearing a crash in one of them, her feet flew beneath her and her legs stretched as she arrived within the old building just in time to see the firebending girl about to strike Aang, who'd been trapped under a wooden beam.

**"OH NO YOU DIDN'T!"** was Masami's battle cry as she whipped the girl viciously from behind, knocking her back. She snapped the wood in half with a downward thrust of her water.

**"Masami!"**

Aang grinned widely and began to pick himself up. Masami began to smile back but was quickly distracted as the girl got up and launched herself at her, unleashing blue flames in her direction. Masami retreated quickly, leading the girl away from Aang. As she ran past a side alley, Sokka lunged out from behind a wall and lashed out at the girl, who jumped back, startled. Aang came rushing out from the building and sent a gust of air hurling at the firebender, who dodged it again and ducked away from Sokka's club as well. She was distracted enough by these attacks, however, that Masami managed to clip her leg with a water disc, slowing her long enough for Aang's second gust to send her flying through a wall. For a moment, they seemed to have won, until a large fire blast appeared from above on their right. Aang barely got out of the way in time as they looked up to see Zuko running towards them along a roof. He flipped through the air and slammed his foot into the ground, raising a powerful wall of flames that deflected Aang and Masami's attacks. The girl appeared from a side alley beside the building she'd been knocked into and was about to attack Masami when she was tripped by a shift of the earth beneath her.

**"I thought you could use some help."**

Masami looked behind Azula to see Toph looking at her earnestly.  
She smiled slightly.

**"Thanks. Friends again?"**

**"Sure,"** came Toph's reply, "**I guess I could do some more stuff to help…every once and a while anyway. Just don't expect me to help carry Sokka's sleeping bag or anything."**

**"Good to have you back,"** smiled Aang.

Toph knocked the second firebender into another building and Sokka joined her in advancing on the girl, while Aang danced around Zuko, trying to hit him while avoid him at the same time. Masami sent a small freezing stream at Zuko, attempting to freeze into place for a moment to help Aang. Instead, Zuko, noticing the danger, pushed himself to the side, falling in the process, and Aang was frozen to the ground.

**"Masami!"** he cried, distressed.

**"Oh, I'm sorry, Aang!"** she screamed, rushing to aid him. Before she could, however, Zuko sent a horizontal slice of fire at her and Aang and she used what little water she had left to block him. Rallying herself and planting herself squarely in front of Aang, she shouted at him.

**"Back off, Pyropants!"**

For the first time since he'd arrived, Zuko's scowl let up for a moment to become a look of surprise and perplexment as he considered this strange, unforeseen nickname.

**"Yeah, I said it,"** smirked Masami, sounding cockier than she felt.

XOXO

Kali got lift off as she skidded into the eerily familiar-looking old town. It was an old earth kingdom prison town, she'd noted as she'd gotten closer to it. Her thoughts had darkened and her heart sunk at the thought of her birthplace. This wasn't it. The prison town she'd lived in had burned down but this one brought back all the memories and refreshed them. She hadn't wanted them refreshed. Her mind returned to the business at hand and as she arrived in the town, she spotted Zuko and Masami squaring off next to a frozen Avatar. She also spotted Azula about to attack one or all of them. She managed to send herself and her makeshift board-like platform flying into the air as she rushed up on Azula from behind. Azula gasped in surprise as she was struck hard by a flying object she couldn't see and Kali quickly freed herself from the platform, landing hard on her sock-covered feet between Zuko and Masami, who both looked at her in shock.  
**"KALI!" **shouted Masami in delight.

**"Kali?"** stammered Zuko in apparent alarm.

Torn between two options, Kali, because she was so thoroughly pissed off by this point, turned to Zuko, glaring at him fiercely.

"**Free Aang, Masami,"** she scowled, without taking her eyes off of Zuko, "**I have some business to attend to."  
**  
Zuko's expression was a mix of confusion, surprise, and frustration.

**"I-how did you get here so fast?!"** he demanded as she continued to glare at him intensely and strode forward purposefully. She stood in front of him for a moment, silent.

Her hand made contact with his cheek before he even knew it was coming. The loud thwacking sound was satisfactorily loud, sharp, and painful-sounding as she solidly smacked him across the unscarred half of his face, causing him to recoil and instinctively hold up his arms in front of his body defensively. He blushed, gingerly touched his face, and winced, his expression shifting from shock and hurt to confusion then to anger.  
**  
"Don't even pretend like you didn't deserve it,"** growled Kali, then muttered under her breath,  
**  
"Bastard."**

Masami, having freed Aang in the meanwhile, stood stunned, her jaw actually open and gaping. Aang seemed to have lost all speech capabilities for the moment as well. Then, she rushed forward and gave Kali her usual back-breaking hug.

**"KALI, YOU'RE THE BEST! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU!"**

Kali groaned, feeling like the hug might be too much for her. She blacked out for a moment but was quickly reawakened by Masami shaking her.

**"KALI?! ARE YOU OKAY?!"**

Well, her headache was worse now anyway.

**"Just tired and pissed off,"** she responded, **"But it's still really good to see you, Masami. You look tired too."  
**  
**"We've been up all night,"** said Masami unhappily.

**"We've been up for most of the week,"** Kali stated wearily, facing Zuko again, who'd recovered from the assault on his face and struck a fighting position opposite of Aang, who'd also struck a fighting position.

**"Good to see you again by the way,"** Aang said quickly, smiling a little at Kali.

**"Good to see you too,"** she said returning the half-hearted smile then frowning again at Zuko.

At that moment, however, Azula appeared out of nowhere and sent a powerful blue blaze of flames directly into Zuko who only had enough time to barely block it and was knocked through the air into a building. Behind Azula, Sokka and two girls Kali'd never seen before came running. Sokka's boomerang flew at Azula, who side-stepped it, allowing it to proceed directly to Kali's face. Kali stood dumbly staring at it, unable to think, and, had it not been for Masami pulling her back, would have been hit squarely in the face. Masami then douced her face with water. Kali looked down at her sister stiffly.

**"Thanks Masami. I needed that."**

Masami nodded then they all turned back to the business of fighting Azula, who was clearly outmatched. She shot a stream of flames directly at Masami and Kali, which Kali cleared easily. Azula's eyes narrowed as she recognized Kali.

**"So, there's a bit more to my brother's little pet than meets the eye at first. That makes you as much a traitor as he and my uncle are."**

Kali jetted herself through the air at her and attempted to slam her foot through her face but Azula scurried out of the way and fled from them through the town. On their way there, they passed Zuko lying in the road. As the others continued the chase, Kali paused for a moment to see if any real damage had been done to him. Angry as she was with him, she couldn't bring herself to just leave him badly injured. Seeing that he wasn't too badly hurt and was starting to come to, she was about to join the others when Uncle appeared beside her and knelt by Zuko.

**"Uncle Iroh, sir?"** she said, calling him 'sir' somewhat out of old habit.

Uncle smiled up at her.

**"I thought I would join you out here. Seems my nephew could use a bit of extra support."**

He noted Kali's expression hardening slightly.

**"And perhaps a review on manners, such as not stealing others' property,"** he sighed.

Zuko opened his eyes.

**"Uncle?"  
**  
**"Get up,"** responded Uncle, frowning down at him.

Zuko took Uncle's hand and rose, then looked up at Kali. Remembering the fight, Kali turned quickly and began to rush towards where the others were. She was joined by Zuko and Uncle and, as Azula came around a corner, she was startled by a sudden encounter with Uncle's belly. Falling backward, Azula found herself surrounded as, together, Zuko, Uncle, Kali, Masami, Sokka, Aang, and one of the girls Kali didn't know advanced on her. The other girl stood back a little ways by Sokka, watching.  
Azula scowled.

**"Well look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together. I'm done."**

She raised her hands above her head.

**"I know when I'm beaten. A princess surrenders with honor."  
**  
Somehow, Kali seriously doubted that. And she was right.  
Azula struck out of nowhere and before anyone knew it, Uncle was reeling backward, moaning in pain from the impact of the flames which had left their mark directly in the middle of his chest. Zuko half-gasped half-shouted in horror and Kali gave a slight scream followed by **"NO!"**

Together the entire group turned to attack Azula. She held a barrier of flames up and there was an enormous explosion. As the smoke cleared, they caught a glimpse of Azula fleeing on her lizard, far away. Seeing the danger gone, Kali instinctively ran to Uncle's side and knelt beside a horribly distressed Zuko. His hands were clenching his head and shaking as he moaned.

**"Nooo."**

For a moment, Kali thought he might cry but she hastily looked back down as Uncle groaned softly. They needed to know how badly he was hurt. All she could think was that he needed help. She gently parted his torn shirt and took a closer look at Uncle's injury. She touched it lightly, testing to see the extent of the damage. Uncle moaned in response. Meanwhile, Zuko muttered something about how it was all his fault and the others came up behind them. Zuko turned on them.

**"GET AWAY FROM US!"** he shouted, in a voice more panicked than she'd ever heard it before. It hurt to hear him sound so upset. She quickly grabbed his shoulder.

**"Zuko. Calm down,"** she tried to keep her voice from trembling unsuccessfully as she fought back tears at Uncle's condition, **"He's alive….He'll be okay, we just need to help him, okay? We need to clean his wound, get him some herbs, and bandage him up…He'll survive."  
**  
She said the last part as much to convince herself as to convince him. A few tears rolled down her cheeks and Zuko's expression softened at her words. He looked back down at his uncle. Kali stood, looking now at Masami and the rest of the group sadly. Then she looked back at Zuko and his uncle, knowing she couldn't leave them. More tears falling from her eyes she stumbled over to Masami and clasped her in a tight hug, trembling as she did so.

**"I'm sorry Masami,"** she whispered**, "But I can't leave them like this…"**

**"I just can't…not with him hurt so badly."**

She leaned back from the hug and wiped the tears from her eyes, forcing herself to stop crying and steadying her voice.

**"I love you…and I'm glad I got to see you again and that you're with what looks like a great group of friends. Stay safe, okay?"**

Aang came forward and put a hand on Masami's shoulder, looking up a Kali. Kali looked at him, smiled slightly.

**"Take good care of each other, alright? And watch out for Azula."**

Masami looked up at her sympathetically.

**"You stay safe too."**

She hugged Kali tightly again. Kali groaned from it but smiled. She tried not to cry again as Masami started to cry.

**"I promise I'll see you again. I'm sure of it…I miss you already."**

**"I miss you too…Love you, Kali."**

Aang frowned.

**"Masami…we should go."**

Masami nodded and without another word they hurried away. Kali watched them go before turning back to Zuko and Uncle. She surveyed the burning town.

**"C'mon, we'd better move him somewhere safer. This town's not going to last much longer..."**

A/N: 


	12. WHAT TURMOIL?

The morning came too fast for Masami's liking. She remembered being curled up with Aang, then as soon as that had happened, he and Toph were being loud, then he was gone. Where had they gone? To train him for earthbending. That was important, but she didn't want to get mad again, so she just stayed still. She didn't like the idea of him being off with some girl that wasn't her, but she was his teacher, and she was no threat to Masami.

She awoke to sounds of shuffling behind her, and expected to see someone about to attack, but it was just Momo, rifling through her stuff, looking for food.

"**Momo."** She groaned, rolling over.

"**Why is everyone talking this morning?!"** Sokka cried. Momo chattered, jumped from the bag, and landed on his face. He screamed, and rolled over, startling Emi awake,

"**Are the girls back!?" **Emi screamed, holding a shoe above her head. Sokka breathed loudly and she slowly put the shoe down as Momo flew off. Masami slowly pulled herself up and she decided to go look for Aang and Toph. She pulled her hair up messily and she made off towards the sounds of other people.

XOXO

After they'd gotten Uncle away from the burning town, cleaned his wound, treated it with some herbs which were common weeds they'd collected, bandaged him, and seen to it he was comfortably resting and breathing normally, they'd collapsed. Exhausted from their long trip and great lack of sleep, Zuko and Kali both slept for a very long time. When Kali awoke, she was greeted by the smell of tea. For a moment, she thought Uncle must have woken up. To her surprise, she found that it was Zuko, actually attempted to make some tea. He glanced at her as she sat up next to him.

**"I thought Uncle might like some tea when he woke up, so I thought I'd try to fix him some in case you didn't wake up before he did."**

She nodded, still a bit surprised.

**"That's…very thoughtful of you…to do that for him."**

She hoped the tea wasn't too bad. She guessed Zuko probably hadn't had to much practice making it. She stood and walked over to the window of the dilapidated old shack they'd set themselves up in. It was some ways away from the town, which was now reduced to ashes and burnt wreckage. She figured it must have been a supply room for the town at some point. She stared down at the town, memories of the burned down prison town she'd once inhabited filling her head. If she hadn't been so exhausted earlier, she might not have gotten to sleep for the tears which had refused to stop streaming down her face when she'd first lain down after helping Uncle. The exhaustion, Uncle's injury, and the memories had all been too much for her. She felt tears beginning to well in her eyes again and quickly looked away from the town, clenching her fists and willing them to go away. One tear escaped though, sliding down her cheek, and she hastily wiped it away, hoping Zuko hadn't noticed.

**"Are…you alright?"**

Apparently he had. She looked over to see him giving her a concerned look. It was strange to see him look that way.

**"Yeah…I'm fine,"** she sighed, **"I just…have a lot of bad memories from places like this…"  
**  
She stared down at the fire for a moment, then glanced up to see Zuko staring at her silently, still looking concerned. She wanted to talk about it…but at the same time she didn't. She went back to staring at the fire, which only served to further remind her of the prison.

**"I…grew up in an Earth Kingdom prison like this. I was born there…I lived there with my mom…until the place got attacked and burned down…all the prisoners died, except for me."**

**"I was the only firebender and I was too little and too weak to help anyone,"** she finished bitterly.

She glanced up to see Zuko's face change. It actually looked kind of…sympathetic.

**"I'm sorry,"** he said, looking away.

After a moment,  
**  
"I know what it's like to lose someone like that."**

She looked over at him, for the first time thinking of his mother.

**"What's your mother like?"** she asked, hoping it wasn't too personal of a question.

He looked back at her, startled.

**"She's gone,"** he replied shortly.

**"I'm sorry…"**

**"…but she was a great mother. She was always there for me…no matter what."**

Just then, they heard a groan.

**"Uncle?"**

Zuko and Kali leaned forward to get a better look at Uncle, who slowly opened his eyes.

**"Good to see you awake,"** said Kali, as she and Zuko gently helped him sit up.

XOXO

Masami ran her fingers through her bangs, and she got them mostly settled to one side. She looked around, sun blazing in her half opened eyes. She could hear speech coming from both directions, and she moved away from the couple towards the learning pair. She rounded a slight corner, and she caught Aang's eye, though he looked away quickly, to finish his sentence to Toph.

**"So what move are you going to teach me first? Rockalanche? Oh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land!"** He asked excitedly. Masami rolled her eyes, and watched them in silence. Aang moved about excitedly until Toph stopped him.

_**"**_**Let's start with "move a rock"." **

_**"**_**Sounds good! Sounds good!"** Aang blabbed. They each moved towards a boulder, and Masami watched them, taking a seat atop a rock not being used.

**"The key to earthbending is your stance.****You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you're going to move it, you've got to be like a rock yourself. "** Toph explained, shoving Aang to make a point. He stumbled a bit, but caught himself. He rubbed his side, but he nodded.

**"Like a rock. Got it."** He looked past Toph for a second, and he saw Masami sitting on the rock, playing with Momo and he smiled. Toph stomped, and got his attention again.

_**"**_**Good. Now the actual motion of this one is pretty simple**_**. **_**Okay, you ready to give it a try?"** She said, after she punched the rock into oblivion. Aang swallowed, but struck a similar stance, though he tossed a look at Masami, who nodded to him.

_**"**_**I'm ready. "** He said, punching towards the rock, though he managed to not move the rock, he then landed into the side of Appa. He fell on his face, and he sighed, while Sokka laughed, Masami made a break back towards the group.

**"Rock beats airbender! Ouch!"** He cried, after getting slapped in the back of the head as Masami passed him to make sure Aang was okay.

XOXO

Uncle groaned a bit and held his chest as Zuko and Kali helped him sit up. He looked over at Zuko.  
**  
"Azula did this to you,"** Zuko told him, **"It was a surprise attack."**  
Uncle frowned.

**"Somehow, that's not so surprising."**

Zuko sat back down and handed Uncle a cup of tea.

**"I hope I made it the way you like it."**

Uncle smiled appreciatively at his nephew and took a sip. His reaction was a strange face and sound which Kali thought looked pained, but he managed to play it off well. Zuko handed Kali a cup. She looked at it uneasily.

**"Mmm good,"** Uncle drained the rest hastily, **"That was very…uh…bracing."**

Zuko handed him another cup while Kali tasted hers gingerly. She winced, also making a face, and played it off by turning away as if she'd seen something interesting outside. It was so…bitter…and awful. Someone needed to teach him how to make better tea. She set the cup down beside her and turned around just in time to see Uncle throw his new cupful out the window while Zuko wasn't looking. She couldn't help but smirk a little. That sneaky Uncle.

Zuko turned back, now holding a cup for himself.

**"So Uncle, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her,**" he paused,

**"I know what you're going to say; she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."**

**"No**," Uncle said bluntly, to Kali and Zuko's surprise, **"She's crazy and she needs to go down."**

Wow, thought Kali. That was…unexpected. The look of shock left Zuko's face after a moment and he nodded, as Uncle pulled himself to his feet.

**"It's time to resume your training. We should start now."**

Just then, his stomach growled and Uncle clutched it.

**"On second thought, we should get something to eat and then we should start."**

Kali stood quietly and went over to look over their supplies, taking her cup with her and copying Uncle, tossing the terrible tea outside when Zuko wasn't looking. As she knelt beside the packs, searching them for food, Uncle joined her briefly.

**"Next time, please don't let him make the tea,"** he whispered to her, causing her to smile slightly.

**"I wasn't awake when he made it. I just thought it was nice that he tried."**

**"Yes,"** he nodded, **"But I really must teach him how to make good tea…"**

Kali finished emptying the contents of the packs. She and Zuko had virtually nothing but Uncle had several strips of pigbeef jerky. Those would do. They'd have to restock soon though. As usual.

**"How'd you get these and keep up with us?"** she asked Uncle, for the first time wondering how he'd found them.

**"Well, you know, a little kindness towards people can go a long way. And the world is filled with generous people willing to help if you just know how to ask,"** he smiled at her.

**"Hmmm, wish we knew how to ask then. Maybe you can teach me that some time,"** she sighed again, as she gathered the jerky. She had something she wanted to ask right now, as a matter of fact. And it also involved him teaching her. She was nervous about asking him though. She couldn't imagine him saying 'No' (well, actually, she could but it didn't seem like him), but even so… He turned as if to walk away and she forced herself to stop him, worried about missing this chance. At least Zuko wasn't in on this conversation.

**"Um, sir?"**

He turned.

**"You know you don't have to call me that, Kali,"** he stopped at her expression, **"Is something wrong?"**

**"Er, no, it's not that, it's just that…I was wondering if…you would teach me too**," she bowed slightly, feeling a little silly looking down to see the meat still clutched in her hands as she was doing this, **"I would be really honored…if you would be my firebending master too."  
**  
She clutched the meat a bit more tightly. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see him smiling down at her.

**"Of course I will teach you. Honestly, I was intending to anyway, assuming you wanted me to. You are a fine bender but you still have much left to learn and Zuko could use a sparring partner anyway. I would be honored to have you as my student."  
**  
She smiled at him, standing, filled with excitement. She wanted to hug him so badly but she couldn't for the meat in her hands.

**"I..thank you…so much, si-Uncle."**

He laughed.

**"And don't start calling me Sifu either, now. I much prefer you to call me Uncle. To be honest, I think of you more as a niece than anything else these days."**

She blushed, slightly surprised but pleased.

**"You're a good uncle,"** she smiled, bowing again.

**"Now,"** he smiled, "**Let's get some meat cooking!"**

XOXO

Masami sat beside Aang as he pulled himself up. She rubbed his face lightly, and he leaned into her hand. She looked back as Emi spoke, having appeared behind Sokka.

**"I don't understand what went wrong. He did it exactly the way you did."** She reasoned. Aang stood slowly, Masami going with him.

**"Maybe there's another way. What if I came at the boulder from a different angle?"** Aang said, slipping lightly as Toph grabbed him to stop him.

_**"**_**No, that's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an airbender. There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickity trick that's going to move that rock. You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this!"** She knocked him in the head lightly, then shoved him over, and he fell with a shout. Masami narrowed her eyes, but stayed put. He had to learn this, but he didn't need to be shoved around. Masami watched as Toph moved past them and broke a rock with her head. Masami's brows shot up. Hardheaded was an understatement about this girl.

_**"**_**Whoa!"** Aang breathed as she came back towards them. Masami stepped in as Aang seemed to be getting a little stirred up.

"Toph, you have to be a little softer with Aang. He doesn't' respond well to being yelled at and shoved around."

"**He doesn't respond well to it, or you don't?"** She challenged back with a smirk. Masami rolled her eyes.

"**I don't like it much either, but you won't get any where with him if he feels like he can't do something. All I ask is you be only as harsh as you have to be."** With that, she figured she would be better served moving away from the situation. She leaned over to kiss Aang's head, only to have him turn his face towards her and catch her lips. She smiled into him, and she broke off after a bit, and she left him to work with, or be destroyed by, Toph.

XOXO

Zuko and Kali sat together across the fire from Uncle, who was making a new pot of tea now that they'd finished their meal. Uncle began to pour each of them a cup.  
**  
"Lightning is a pure expression of firebending, without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly, like Azula. To perform the technique requires peace of mind."**

Uncle handed them the cups. Kali took a sip, relieved to be back to Uncle's good tea and rid of Zuko's. She could hardly believe they were sitting here actually talking about bending lightning. She'd only heard vague rumors of the possibility of doing such a thing up until recently and now here Uncle was talking about teaching her and Zuko how to do it! She hadn't even ever seen it done before. Peace of mind though…she wasn't sure how well she could achieve that. She thought she could but…she wasn't sure. And she certainly had trouble picturing Zuko ever achieving that, at the moment anyway.

**"I see,"** said Zuko, taking a sip of his tea, **"That's why we're drinking tea: To calm the mind."  
**  
**"Oh yeah, good point!"** said Uncle, then, quickly changing his tone,  
**"I mean, yes."  
**  
Kali smiled and laughed softly.

A few minutes later, they were outside standing on the edge of a hill above the valley which contained what appeared to have been another prison town. Kali and Zuko stood on either side of Uncle.  
**  
"There is energy all around us," **stated Uncle**, "The energy is both yin and yang; positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance and, in a moment, the positive and negative energy come crashing back together. You provide release and guidance, creating lightning."**

He held out his hands, gesturing for them to back away a bit. He rotated first one arm in a circular motion to his side, then the other, extending only two fingers from each hadn as he did so. Kali stared, seeing the energies he now held in his hands. She was suddenly aware of just how true Uncle's words were. Energy really was all around them. Abruptly, Uncle brought his hands together and lunged forward. A huge bolt of lightning rippled and streaked through the air in front of them.

**"Wow,"** whispered Kali, wishing the display could have lasted longer than a second. It had been beautiful.

**"I'm ready to try it!"** she heard Zuko exclaim anxiously. How could he say that? That'd been…so…awesome! And intense! How could he feel so confident about even trying something like that? She'd been intimidated the moment Uncle had brought up the subject, nevermind how she was feeling now. She watched as Zuko stepped forward.

**"Remember,"** said Uncle, stepping back, **"once you separate the energy, you do not command it. You are simply its humble guide. Breathe first."**

Zuko took a deep breath slowly, then opened his eyes and, concentrating, began to perform the same motions Uncle had. Already, Kali could see he wasn't separating the energy quite like Uncle had. She'd seen then streaks of energy when Uncle had done it. She had a bad feeling about this. Zuko lunged forward and was promptly flung backward several feet by an explosion directly in front of him. Kali winced, knowing that would probably happen to her too. Iroh shook his head slightly.

**"It will take a lot of practice, I suspect, for you to be able to perform this bending. After all, if it were easy, there would not be so few people able to use it. It is one of the most difficult techniques to learn,"** he turned to Kali,

**"Kali, it's your turn to try it."**

Wow, thought Kali, thanks for the comforting build up speech. She sighed and stepped forward, knowing she'd be flying backward in a moment yet simultaneously hoping, just hoping there might be a chance of success. She breathed deeply, trying to calm her mind, but the presence of Zuko and Uncle there and the pressure she felt seemed to magnify her awareness of everything else. Feel ing like she was taking up too much time, she tried again to calm herself as she began to perform the movements as Uncle had showed them to her. Already, she could see that she had failed. She wondered how far back she'd fly. She concentrated harder, irritated with herself. If she had to fail now, in front of them, she might as well make it a big, loud failure. She brought her hands together and jerked forward. It took her a moment to process how big the explosion had been and by that time she was already in the air. By the time she realized she was in the air she was hitting the ground, even farther back than Zuko. It was a painful experience.

**"Oooof!"**

For a moment she couldn't breath, the wind knocked out of her. She slowly stood, having regained the capacity to breath properly.

**Wow," **"she muttered, **"That was a spectacular failure…"**

She dusted herself off, knowing she couldn't let that get in the way. If she wanted to lightning bend, she had to achieve peace of mind. And if she wanted peace of mind, she couldn't let past failures, or fear of future failures, get in the way. Easier said than done. She coughed, slowly moving to rejoin the others as Zuko prepared to try again. As she reached them, Zuko's attempt exploded in his face once again and he was knocked back yet again. She sighed. She had a feeling there would be a lot of that happening today. They were both going to be really sore after this, she thought, as she again took up her stance at the top of the hill.

XOXO

Masami lounged against Appa, her hair having fallen down long before. She had her eyes closed, and Momo lay curled up in her lap as she nearly dozed off. She heard someone near her move, and she opened her eyes slowly. Emi sank to the ground near her, and she looked worried.

"**Something wrong?"** Masami asked her. She nodded lightly,

"**I can't help but feel useless being around Benders like the three of you, and a Warrior like Sokka. He must get sick of having to protect me, and I'm sure he'd take any girl he found tomorrow over me."** She said sadly. Masami smiled,

"**Sokka's not that much of a jerk. He enjoys someone actually needing him. I know he does. He feels like you do a lot of the time, his sister is a bender like Aang and myself, and before I came along, he felt like he wasn't much compared to her and Aang for a while I'm sure."** She assured with a smile. Emi looked at her,

"**Really?"** She seemed amazed.

"**Mhmm."** Masami nodded.

"**What else do you know about Sokka?"** She asked excitedly. Masami rolled her eyes.

"**He's obnoxious."**

"**Masami!"**

"**I'm just saying. Well, he's from the Southern Water Tribe, he has a sister named Katara. His mother's deceased, but I'm not really sure about much of that; I've never been at liberty to ask."** She continued. Emi nodded, seemingly taking notes.

"What else?"

"**He eats a lot, doesn't chew with his mouth closed, often gets the short end of the stick at bad times, is a good friend and will have your back when you need him, he snores, his sleeping bag smells like old men and sweat. Uhhh….and he has a boomerang."** Masami finished with a flourishing tone. She looked to Emi, hoping to see her impressed with her knowledge of Sokka, and just found her laughing.

"**What?"**

"**He sounds…in some weird fashion, to be perfect."** Masami raised an eyebrow,

"You have weird taste, but whatever makes you happy."

XOXO

Many many explosions, painful landings, and failures later, Kali watched tiredly from a rock as Zuko blasted himself backwards again, landing right next to her. She wearily offered him her hand but he ignored it and picked himself up angrily.

**"Why can't I do it?! Instead of lightning, it keeps exploding in my face! Like everything always does!!"  
**  
Kali said nothing. He was right about that. It did seem like everything always exploded in his face. She watched as Uncle strolled over to them.

**" I was afraid this might happen. You will not be able to master lightning until you have dealt with the turmoil inside you,"** he said, looking at Zuko.

**"WHAT TURMOIL?!"**

**"Wow...really, Zuko?"**

Zuko looked down at Kali.

**"What?!"**

She shook her head.

**"I'm...pretty sure you've got quite a bit of turmoil. In fact, I'd go so far as to say you're pretty much the definition of turmoil."**

**"Zuko,"** said Uncle, drawing Zuko's attention back to him, **"you must let go of your feelings of shame if you want your anger to go away."  
**  
Zuko glanced back down at Kali then looked out over the valley.

**"But I don't feel any shame at all! I'm as proud as ever!"**

**"Prince Zuko,"** sighed Uncle**, "pride is not the object of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame."**

This time it was Zuko's turn to sigh.

**"Well...my life has been nothing but humbling lately."**

For a moment, Uncle was silent, looking away and Kali wondered what he was thinking. Then he looked back at both of them.

**"I have another idea. I will teach you a firebending move that even Azula doesn't know, because I made it up myself."**

He smiled and Zuko smiled too. It was a small smile, but Kali was glad to see it there.

A few minutes later, Uncle sat both of them down and instructed them briefly on the traits of the four nations. Kali wondered what this had to do with the move he was going to teach them but said nothing. Uncle explained to them that it was important to draw wisdom from many different sources. He had invented his own move by observing waterbenders. Kali smiled and her excitement grew. That was brilliant! They stood and Uncle demonstrated a waterbending-like movement.

**"Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy. A waterbender lets their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' energy against them. I learned a way to do this with lightning. "**

Both Kali and Zuko were stunned. Kali had come to have great respect for Uncle before, but now, that respect grew even more and felt great admiration for him. She listened carefully as he explained to them how the move actually worked and then they began to practice it, trying to master the flow of it and feel the chi moving within them. Kali closed her eyes, the better to concentrate and tried to force herself to relax and feel the flow. Gradually, she began to feel what she thought might be the chi in her. She opened her eyes wondering if she was imagining it to see Iroh watching both her and Zuko practice.

**"Well done, Kali! You look to have gotten into the flow of things very nicely."**

She smiled at him and kept practicing, trying to memorize the feel of the correct movement. Not too long after, Uncle smiled at Zuko.

**"Excellent, Zuko, you've got it!"**

**"Great!"** said Zuko excitedly, **"I'm ready to try it with real lightning."**

Kali stopped her practicing and gawked at him. Had he really just said that? Uncle too looked confused.

**"What, are you crazy? Lightning is very dangerous."**

**"I thought that was the point,"** replied Zuko, who now looked quizzical as well,

**"You teaching me how to protect myself from it."**

Uncle's eyes bulged out and he gestured frantically at his nephew.

**"Yeah, but I'm not going to shoot lightning at you! If you are lucky, you will never have to use this technique at all!"**

Zuko looked away solemnly, looking frustrated. Dark clouds were gathering over the valley and other hills in front of them.

**"Well, if you won't help me,"** he said, **"I'll find my own lightning."**

With that, he moved briskly over to Zolo and untied him. As he mounted the ostrich-horse, Kali walked hastily over to him.  
**  
"Zuko, wait-"**

**"I'm just borrowing him for a little while,"** he cut her off**, "I'll bring him back as soon as I'm done."  
**  
With that, he urged Zolo forward and took off. Kali watched, rooted to the spot. That hadn't been what she was going to say. Forget Zolo, was he INSANE?! He could get himself killed if he wasn't careful. It wasn't exactly that likely that he'd get struck but what if he was and he wasn't able to handle it? She started after him but Uncle stopped her.

**"He'll be back. I am sure he will change his mind after a little while. It will be fine."**

As much as she respected him, Kali couldn't help but disagree with Uncle Iroh on this one. She stared out worriedly towards the dark clouds where Zuko had headed.

XOXO

The afternoon waned on slowly, as Masami and Emi, much to Masami's vexation, talked about Sokka the entire afternoon. Emi had strange taste as far as Masami saw it. Masami was then asked what made her care about Aang so much. She smiled,

"**He's sweet, and he cares about everyone he comes in contact with generally. I think that's far beyond anything I could ever do. He's powerful, obviously because he's the Avatar, but beyond that, he's powerful but still human. He suffers just like we do; he** **feels more guilt then most feel in a lifetime. He has this regard for human life that most lack, and he does everything in his power to preserve it."** She knew most of that was because of the loss of his people to the Fire Nation, and the fact he'd been able to do nothing to stop it, but even despite that, he didn't dwell on it, usually, and he was able to move forward.

"**How'd you end up in this (gaang) group?"** Emi asked. Masami laughed heartily,

"**Well, my sister and I were traveling, and there were these pirates in this town, and of course I wandered onto their ship to look at stuff, and then I left to go find Kali, my sister. But before I could, Sokka's sister stole something from the pirates and they took off after Aang, Sokka and Katara and I just sorta got caught up in the middle. So, from there my sister sorta shacked up with the scary fire scar dude and that's pretty much it. So we keep crossing paths randomly, and hopefully we can stop the Fire Nation and my sister can join the right side."** She explained casually. Emi seemed confused, but intrigued.

"**How is that so casual for you? If all that had happened to me I'd be a mess!"** Emi mused, Masami shrugged,

"**Weirder things have happened since I've been with this group, believe me."** Masami added as three shapes appeared behind them. Sokka looked a mess and didn't have the food he'd gone to look for earlier,

"**How was your day?"** Emi asked Sokka. He opened his mouth,

"**Well besides being stuck in a hole for most of it, it was fine. I thought a lot and came to realize some things are more important-!"** Sokka started, but was cut off.

"**Hey Masami! Look what I can do!"** Aang shouted over Sokka, thrusting his arms forward, and a rock formation near them crumbled. Masami smiled,

"**I'm impressed!"** She glanced at Toph,

"**If he's this excited you weren't too harsh, I appreciate that."** She smiled, Toph shrugged it off as Aang made to tell Appa about his day. Sokka sighed,

"**No one cares about MY day?!"** He roared. Emi hopped infront of him with a smile,

"**I do!"** She smiled. He looked down at her, and he smiled too, and then went on to exasperatedly tell her about his experiences with Foo Foo Cuddlypoops the sabertooth mooselion cub, the hole he'd been stuck in, and all the things he'd discovered while being there.

XOXO

She wasn't sure how much time had gone by now but it felt too long. Kali sat at the edge of the hill looking out at the storm rolling in towards them. It was nearly here and Zuko hadn't come back yet. Lightning flashed, immediately followed by a loud booming of thunder. She stood. She couldn't just sit here and wait anymore. She needed to know he was okay.

**"Uncle, I'm going to go find Zuko now. I hate not knowing for sure whether he's okay or not. I know he probably won't get struck but even so…"**

Uncle stood in the doorway of the shack, a greatly troubled look across his face.

**"I had hoped he would be back by now,"** he sighed, **"Please be careful…I do not want to lose either of you and the lightning is not the only dangerous thing out there right now."  
**  
She nodded.

**"I'll be fine. We'll be back soon…I hope."**

She hastily hiked down the hill where Zuko had headed, searching for the ostrich-horse's tracks as she did so. They were hard to see but she managed to follow them for a good ways until the rain began. She looked up as the first drops began to hit her and saw that she was directly under the edge of the clouds now. She moved faster but soon the rain was pouring down and she was getting drenched. Thunder boomed all around her and lightning flashes lit up the surrounding hills and mountainous plateaus. Where could he be, she thought, looking around. Zuko wanted to get struck by lightning right? So, he'd be trying to get closer to it, wouldn't he? She looked up, squinting and shielding her eyes against the rain as she struggled to search the plateaus and hills for a silhouette. Lightning flashes were her only chance to see anything and she grew increasingly uncomfortable standing so out in the open. After all, she wasn't the one who wanted to get struck by lightning. She wandered toward the highest peak she could see, figuring he'd probably gone there. She hoped she was right. As she drew nearer, wiping the water out of her eyes and wishing the wind would quit driving the rain directly at her, lightning streaked down directly in front of the peak and she caught a glimpse of a silhouette. That had to be him. What other nut would be out here?

She found Zolo tied off at the bottom of the peak. Thank goodness. Now she knew for sure that it was him. She tried to climb up quickly but the slick, muddy ground kept slipping her up and she was forced to climb more carefully, clinging tightly to the side of the miniature mountain. Eventually she reached the top.

Thunder and lightning were still crashing all around them but the rain had let up somewhat. She found Zuko down on his hands and knees, apparently having a fight with the ground. Obviously, he had not been successful at getting struck by lightning. Anxious as she was to get off the peak and away from the storm, she walked over calmly and knelt down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, startled.

**"Was this really necessary?"** she had to speak loudly in order to be heard over the rain.

He sat up and looked down silently. Another flash of lightning lit up his face. She felt like it was probably just because of the rain, but he'd looked kind of like….he'd been crying. From the expression on his face though, maybe it wasn't just the rain.  
**  
"Zuko, let's get out of here. You don't need to get struck by lightning to prove you can do the move correctly, alright?"**

She had to lean in closer to catch what he said.

**"What?"**

**"You don't think I could do it, do you? Because every time I try to do something, I FAIL."**

He sounded really bitter. She moved around in front of him, the better to face him. She leaned in close so she could look him in the eyes, though it was too dark to clearly see them.

**"Look. I don't KNOW if you could do it. You probably could. Uncle seemed to think you'd mastered it. But it doesn't matter to me. Even if you did master it, something could still go wrong. And it's not knowing whether or not you'd be okay that bothers me. Not knowing for sure….you could DIE if things didn't go right. I was really worried about you…"**

She stopped. Even though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew he was looking right at her now.

**"So was your uncle. We were both worried. And you don't fail at everything. I mean, like….you're a really good firebender and you're a great swordsman from what I've seen. And…you never give up."**

She paused.

**"And sometimes that's not too easy, especially when everything seems like it's against you."**

His silhouette looked away.

**"Sometimes I think it'd be better if I just gave up…"**

**"Well, to be honest…even though I don't support capturing the Avatar…the thing I've always respected about you is that you never give up. You're always so determined and no matter what hits you, you always seem to come back from it and you never let it get you down. At least, not for long anyway."**

He was looking back at her again now. As uncomfortable as she felt right now, having to talk to him about this (on a peak in the middle of a storm no less), she felt like she had to do what she did next. Even if it made her even more uncomfortable, he seemed like he needed it (and she wasn't ready to take it a step above that, no matter what had happened during that fight when they'd been babysitting).

She hugged him.

**"For what it's worth…I don't ever want you to give up on yourself. Okay?"**

He'd stiffened when she'd hugged him but slowly, he leaned back into her. His arms wrapped around her back, clutching her shoulders. He let his head drop onto her shoulder and she felt him shaking. She stared out into the storm awkwardly, pretending not to hear him cry.

XOXO

This day had started cutely, with watching Aang play with animals, which was always adorable. But the day wore on, and Masami couldn't say she was as happy as she had been when she woke up. They slowly moved about this shabby town of sorts, and they went in a bar like restaurant. This man started by spilling his drink on Aang, then calling him an experiment of sorts.

"**An Air Nomad, right in front of me.****Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University****Tell me, which of the Air temples do you hail from?"** The man chirped, the sound of his voice simply irked Masami.

**"The southern temple.** " Aang said simply.

**"Oh splendid! Now tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?"** He said, while using some odd instrument to measure Aang's head. Masami snapped lightly, but managed to keep her mouth shut.

**"****Uh, are fruit pies an agricultural product?"** Aang asked, looking towards those around him. She shrugged, and watched the man put his hand on Aang's shoulder. She narrowed her eyes.

_**"**_**Oh, truly fascinating. That is one for the journal." **The professor was so giddy it made her want to spit.

"**I beg your pardon, **_**Professor**_** but he isn't a science project and I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your hands and weird notes to yourself."** The strange man looked at her with a questioning glance, but the issue past quickly as Sokka sensed her edginess and knew of her moods. And the irking feeling didn't stop. Soon as they were outside, apparently the stupid Professor was coming with them, and then he was taking them somewhere, she'd stopped listening while they were inside. She was merely following. They soon were in the desert. They climbed into Appa, hell bent on looking for a place that didn't exist. As the man shushed Momo, he came to rest with Masami, who held him like he was a toy. Then they found it. Masami was shocked. She didn't want to go in, but she wouldn't leave that freak with Aang and her friends. She wandered in and away from them. She sat close to the door, and soon, something huge was coming back towards her.

"**WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"** She cried as she ran with Momo, she stopped, and she thought about standing her ground, but she decided she didn't stand a chance. She had no where to go, but then she's saved from above as Sokka slammed a book down on the head of the Owl. She had never been so happy to see him. The place was starting to collapse. They looked back to get that crazy man, but he was refusing to leave. Good riddance as far as Masami saw it. There was a window before them, and they barely were able to climb out. Masami hit the ground with a hard slam, and her eyes tearing up lightly from the impact on her arm, and she felt a pop and didn't like the sound of it.

"**We got it. There's a solar eclipse coming. The Fire Nation's in trouble, now!"** Sokka said excitedly. Masami pulls herself up lightly, and she looked towards the others. Sokka and Emi embraced in excitement, but something was missing.

_**"**_**Where's Appa?"**

XOXO

The trio had resumed traveling the day after the huge storm. They didn't travel as frantically and constantly as Kali and Zuko had before now that Uncle was back with them and injured. They actually stopped for meals and sometimes even between them. During nights after dinner, Kali and Zuko spent long hours training while Uncle supervised and instructed from where he sat sipping tea. Often, they continued even after he'd gone to sleep. In the mornings, they would get up early and spar before breakfast, first with swords and next with firebending, helping each other improve. Kali had the advantage with the swords, frequently besting Zuko, though he kept up well. It was the opposite in firebending, with Zuko having the upper hand. It made sense really, since Kali'd had more experience using swords while Zuko'd had more experience firebending. In any case, it helped to have a sparring partner on about the same level. They'd decided sparring with both the firebending and the swords would be a good idea not long after the storm. Kali had suggested it would help them both enhance their skills and keep in good shape. Zuko, to her surprise, had readily agreed.

They were traveling along a dirt road now, Zolo trotting along at a decent clip through the dust. Kali frowned as Uncle clutched his arm in front of her and moaned.

**"Maybe we should make camp,"** Zuko said, somewhat begrudgingly.

**"No, please, don't stop for ME,"** replied Uncle in a rather dramatic tone. He groaned again a few more times, overly dramatically Kali thought. It almost made her smile, but knowing that he was, in fact, in pain, made her hold back the smile as Zuko stopped Zolo. They all dismounted and Uncle sat on a rock, still clutching his arm but clearly relieved. Just then, Zolo perked up and looked ahead and they heard a rumbling sound. Zuko and Kali took defensive stances as it drew closer.

**"What now?"** asked Uncle.

XOXO

No one really knew what to say. Toph was in tears, Masami was in tears, Sokka was sort of in shock and Aang was irate. He advanced on Toph,

**" How could you let them take Appa? Why didn't you stop them?"** He screamed, she shouted back, clearly upset,

**"I couldn't! The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and— :"** She cried, swinging her arms around trying to explain herself

_**"**_**You could have come to get us! I could have saved him!"** Aang snarled,

**"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't time for— "** Toph urged,

**"You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!"** Aang accused her. She looked mortified. Masami pulled herself up, holding onto her arm, she popped it back into place and winced with pain. She moved it some, and then approached Toph and Aang.

"**Aang, don't be like this. She did what she could, no one's perfect."** She urged, touching him lightly on the arm.

**"Who's going to save our lives now? We'll never make it out of here."** Sokka whined.

"**You're not helping things Sokka."** Masami said flatly. But he was right, they didn't know where they were.

**"That's all any of you guys care about: yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!"** He snapped. Masami withdrew her hand.

"**Hold on Aang, that's ****not fair."** She started as he turned his back.

"**I think it's plenty fair! No one ever cares that Appa carries us everywhere! I'm sick of all of you!"** He snapped. He looked back over his shoulder, and he must not have been able to see the hurt behind Masami's eyes, or he just didn't care.

"**Aang you can't mean that."** She started, her voice cracked.

"**I do, and I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going after Appa."** He said, and he flew off.

"**Aang, wait!"** Sokka called, Masami didn't have the voice to do so. Emi looked towards the group, and she didn't know what to do.

"**Let's keep moving."** Sokka said, looked at everyone, and beginning to walk slowly.

XOXO

Kali and Zuko scowled as their old friends from the Yings' house appeared. Great. Uncle, however, looked pleased.

**"Colonel Mongke! What a pleasant surprise!"**

He put a hand on Zuko's shoulder as he stood.

**"If you're surprised we're here,"** replied the firebender, "then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps."

He and his men held their weapons in preparation for a fight, having surrounded Kali, Zuko, and Uncle.

**"You know these guys?"** asked Zuko.

**"Sure,"** replied Uncle, still smiling, "**Colonel Mongke and the Rough Riders are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapons specialist. They are also a very capable singing group. "  
**  
**"We're not here to give a concert,"** interjected Mongke irritably,

**"We're here to apprehend fugitives! "**

**"Would you like some tea first?"** asked Uncle, **"I'd love some. How about you, Kachi?"  
**He gestured at the halberd bearer.

"I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?"

**"Enough stalling!"** shouted Mongke, **"Round'em up!"**

Not too surprisingly, with Uncle's help, Kali and Zuko quickly defeated most of the Rough Rhinos and escaped swiftly on Zolo.

XOXO

Masami walked silently ahead of the rest of the group. She didn't looked straight ahead, but watched the sand kicked up by her feet. She didn't know what she would say if they somehow managed to find him. She stopped as she heard the others start a mild squabble

_**"Can't**_** you watch where you're— "** Sokka started.

**"No."** Toph cut in.

**"Right. Sorry."** He said, scratching the back of his head. Emi apparently hadn't heard their exchange and ran straight into the back of Sokka. Emi looked a little dazed,

"**Come on guys, we've got to stick together. "** Masami urged quietly.

**"If I sweat any more, I don't think sticking together will be a problem."** Sokka gripped, pulling himself off Toph, and then Emi off his back.

**"****Masami, can I have some water?"** Toph asked quietly, pushing Sokka over.

"**Okay, but we've gotta make it last."** She said, splitting it between everyone, and didn't have enough for herself, unless she drank Mushi's water, and it really didn't look like water anymore, so she decided against it.

_**"**_**We're drinking your bending water? You used this on the swamp guy!"** Sokka cried,

**"It does taste swampy."** Toph added.

"**Swamp guys?"** Emi looked mildly panicked, everyone's attention being broken by the burping lemur to their left.

_**"**_**I'm sorry, it's all we have.** " She said,

**"Not anymore! Look!"** Sokka cried, rushing towards a cactus.

_**"**_**Sokka, wait! You shouldn't be eating strange plants!"** Emi urged, running after him.

_**"**_**There's water trapped inside these!"** Sokka cried, cutting into the plant open,

_**"**_**Water!"** Emi cried happily, shoving her face into the liquid. Sokka followed suit quickly with another part he cut.

"**That seems sorta shady to me…"** Masami reasoned, but it seemed to be a little late. Sokka's eyes glazed over a bit, and his expression was blank.

"**Drink cactus juice. It'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier. It's the quenchiest!"** He cried, doing the worm across the sand. Emi rolled back and forth across a sand dune

_**"**_**Okay, I think you've had enough."** Masami breathed, dumping out the rest of the juice.

**"Who lit Toph on fire?"** Sokka asked, getting in her space, seemingly examining her.

_**"**_**Can I get some of that cactus?"** Toph asked, not being able to see what was going on. Emi stood up, and was dive bombed by Momo, who had also had too much to drink.

**" I don't think that's a good idea. Come on, we need to find Aang."** She said, pulling Toph with her.

**"How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean?!"** Sokka screeched.

"**Are there mermaids out here?!"** Emi echoed, holding Sokka's arm, to keep herself upright. Masami groaned. Today was going to be a long day, she could already tell.

XOXO

As they made their hasty escape, Uncle tried to make light of the situation.

**"It's nice to see old friends."**

**"Too bad you don't have any old friends that don't want to attack you,"** snapped Zuko.

**"Hmm…Old friends that don't want to attack me,"** mused Uncle thoughtfully.

A few hours later, the threesome arrived in a small, broken down looking town on the edge of the desert. They tethered their ostrich horse outside a seedy looking tavern and walked in.

**"Uncle, why are we here?"** asked Zuko as they headed in.

Kali glanced around uneasily. She'd noticed a wanted poster for Zuko and Uncle as they'd entered the town and hoped no one there would be looking for them. After all, it wasn't like Zuko was hard to recognize. Apart from that, nearly everyone in the tavern looked a bit shady. They sat down quietly at a table. Kali took a seat facing the wall and leaned back against it, the better to examine the various characters in the tavern. A scrawny, weaselly waiter of sorts came over to them.

**"What can I get you lot?"**

**"Some tea for me would be nice,"** smiled Uncle.

The man scowled.

**"This is a bar. What kind of shit you pulling, old man?"**

Zuko clenched his fists and started to stand but Uncle put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

**"My apologies,"** he kept his smile, **"In that case, nothing for me."**

**"You want anything?"** asked the man, looking at Zuko.

Zuko looked away, fists still clenched. The man looked over at Kali, taking a moment to run his eyes over her. He gave her a dirty grin.

**"And what can I do for you, Miss Long Legs?"**

Kali scowled and raised an eyebrow, while Zuko clenched his fists even tighter and gritted his teeth. Uncle kept his hand on Zuko's shoulder, apparently fearful of a fight.

**"No thanks,"** Kali said icily, crossing her arms a bit more tightly and glaring fiercely at the man as he shrugged and walked away.

After a moment, Zuko growled about how no one would help them and everyone looked like 'filthy wanderers' in the bar, in response to which Uncle pointed out so did they. Kali had to agree with that. Uncle then decided to play a game of Pai Sho, suggesting that the man at the table was the friend they needed. Kali followed him and Zuko, still glancing around the bar worriedly.

There were two men in particular she was concerned about. They seemed to be watching Zuko and Uncle as they walked over to the Pai Sho table and looked away quickly when they noticed Kali glancing at them. She didn't like the feeling she was getting from them. She sat opposite Zuko, the better to keep an eye on them. They seemed somewhat out of place anyway. She was quickly distracted from them, however, by the intense unfolding of the Pai Sho game between Uncle and the bald man opposite him. Both players moved hastily and purposefully and soon she and Zuko were looking do wn on what appeared to be a perfect lotus shaped pattern with the lotus tile located in the middle. She looked over as the man spoke.

**"Welcome, brother. The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."**

**"What are you old gasbags talking about?"** asked Zuko irritably.

**"I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game,"** Uncle said.

Kali's eyes widened in understanding as she recalled Uncle mentioning an exclusive club of sorts to her when he'd been teaching her how to play Pai Sho on the Shoeboat. The Order of the White Lotus. He'd even mentioned at one point how she should consider becoming an initiate. She'd been reluctant to accept his offer to train her as one though. She noticed a sudden movement from the shadows where the two suspicious men had been sitting and started as the bigger, more muscular of the two started over to them.

**"It's over! You two fugitives are coming with me!"** he shouted, pointing at Zuko and Uncle, who looked startled.

**"I knew it!"** shouted the pai sho player, standing and also pointing at them, **"You two are wanted criminals with a giant bounty of your heads!"  
**  
Kali jumped out of her chair, taking a defensive stance as Zuko and Uncle also stood.

**"I thought you said he would help!"** Zuko shouted frantically at Uncle.

**"He is,"** said Uncle calmly, "**Just watch."**

Kali realized then what he was doing as she saw the rest of the bar grow tense.

**"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that gold?!"** continued the man.

**"Gold?!"** exclaimed someone, then the entire tavern seemed to rise around them. Soon a massive fight had broken out, with the two men who'd intended to capture them fighting the rest of the bar. Evidently, they were very talented earthbenders. Fortunately, the diversion worked well and the Pai Sho man, Uncle, Zuko, and Kali all escaped quickly into the night, taking refuge in a flower shop of sorts.

The Pai Sho man led Uncle to a back room, referring to him as a 'Grand Master'. Uncle answered a riddle of sorts from a man behind the door to the back room, who spoke through a panel in it which slid open. The door was shut abruptly in Kali and Zuko's faces. The panel in the door slid back open long enough for Uncle to explain that only members were allowed in and that they were to wait there. Kali took a seat between two large pots while Zuko pouted against a post and sniffed a plant curiously. Kali sighed wearily. Sure hope this isn't a long meeting, she thought. Unfortunately, it was.

XOXO

In the distance, the group could see a large cloud form.

**"What is that?"** Masami squinted,

**"What? What is what?"** Toph asked, looking around.

"**It's a giant mushroom! Maybe it's friendly!"** Sokka cried.

"**Come on, we have to find Aang."** Masami said sadly,

_**"Friendly**_** mushroom! Mushy giant friend!"** Sokka and Emi sang together, spinning in a circle. Masami rolled her eyes, but kept on moving. The afternoon past rather uneventfully, it was hot, and Sokka and Emi were still losing their minds Momo had decided he was now Masami's hat, and she looked up as a shadow landed behind them.

"**Aang, I'm sorry. For everything, Appa, us getting lost, but we have to keep going."** Masami said, touching his shoulder lightly as he knelt on the ground.

_**"What's**_** the difference? We won't survive without Appa. We all know it."** Aang stated morosely

"**Come on, Aang! We can do this if we work together. Right Toph?"** Emi said, shaking her stupor a bit.

**"As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothin'."** She said sadly.

"**Sokka? Any ideas how to find Ba-Sing-Se?"** Emi tried again,

_**"**_**Why don't we ask the circle birds?"** He asked, rolling around in the sand.

**"Alright look, I don't want to be here anymore, we aren't going to die here if I have any say in it. Aang, get up, Sokka stop drooling on yourself, and get in a line. We're getting the hell out of here."** Masami grabbed Aang's hand, and everyone started to file out of the desert, or deeper into it, either way.

XOXO

Kali glanced at the door as it swung open then back at Zuko as he started awake.

**"Have a nice nap?"** she smirked.

The club meeting had taken FOREVER. She'd eventually taken a walk around the small shop, just for the sake of having something to do. Lots of nice plants, mostly flowers. Nothing particularly interesting or exciting though.

**"What's going on? Is the club meeting over?"** asked Zuko, withdrawing from the defensive stance he'd automatically taken upon waking up.

**"Everything is taken care of. We're heading to Ba-Sing-Se,"** said Uncle.

**"Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom capital?"** asked Zuko.

**"Safest place for refugees from the Fire Nation,"** stated Kali simply.

**"Exactly,"** replied Uncle, **"We can hide in plain sight there."**

The front door of the shop opened.

**"I have the passports for our guests,"** said the man, **"But there are two men out on the streets looking for them."  
**  
Uncle, Zuko, and Kali crowded over to peak out of the slit in the door, though Kali figured she already knew who they were. It was the two men from the bar, standing right outside. The bigger of the two held a wanted poster of Uncle and Zuko and was asking passersby if they'd seen them. Zuko and Uncle looked at each other, then at Kali. They stepped away from the door.

**"This is a problem,"** said Uncle, frowning and pulling at his beard thoughtfully.

**"How are we supposed to sneak past them when the only way out of this place is through the front door?"** scowled Zuko, putting the question out to no one in particular.

The two White Lotus members also frowned thoughtfully and looked around the room for inspiration. Kali scanned the room over again then went back to her seat between the two large pots. She stared at the ground trying to think of something helpful when suddenly she heard one of the White Lotus members exclaim.  
**  
"That's it!"**

She looked up to see the man pointing at her and looked back at him, bewildered.

**"What's it?"**

**"These pots between which you are sitting are bigger than you are. They are also empty, which means we could fit you three in them and smuggle you outside the town that way."**

Kali looked over to see Uncle and Zuko exchange concerned expressions.

**"It's the best chance we've got, it seems,"** said Uncle after a moment, **"We might as well give it a try."**

Kali stood and looked down at the pots. The other White Lotus member, the one they'd first met, stood beside her.

**"They might be big enough…but there's still a problem. There are two of them and three of you. Either we risk sending one of you out in the open, wait to send you out another time, or two of you will be sharing a pot."**

Uncle, Zuko, and Kali all looked at each other. Zuko and Kali both frowned uncomfortably, knowing what was probably coming next.

XOXO

Night fell slowly, finally. The sands began to feel cooler then before, but no one really wanted to be out here anymore. She almost regretted getting separated from Kali, but then she thought about how Aang usually was, he was just suffering right now. He hadn't meant those things he said, she knew that.

"**I think we should stop for the night."** Masami said, letting go of Aang's hand. Everyone dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

_**"**_**Is there any more water?"** Toph asked from the ground

"**No, I'm sorry, we drank it all earlier." **Masami said sadly.

_**"**_**Sokka, let me see the things you got from the library."** Masami said suddenly, looking at the sky.

_**"What**_**!? I didn't steal anything! Who told you that It was you! You ratted me out!"** Sokka cried, pointing at Momo.

**"Sokka, I was there."** She said flatly.

**"It doesn't matter. None of those will tell us where Appa is."** Aang said sadly. Masami pulled out a scrolled, and she began to look it over. Stars! Her grandfather had always told her she could find her way back to village if she and Kali got lost by using the stars.

_**"**_**No, but we can find out which way Ba-Sing-Se is. We can use the stars to guide us. That way we can travel at night when it's cool and rest during the day. Just try to get some sleep. We'll start again in a few hours."** She said, letting the scroll close. She sat a little ways away from Aang, glancing at his turned back every so often. As she heard others start to snore, she pulled her knees up, and rested her head on her knees. She looked up, startled when she heard something near her stir, but when she looked back, Aang had turned away again. She sighed, and she closed her eyes once more.

XOXO

Uncle took up one pot by himself, not too shockingly. Despite Zuko and Kali both being taller than him, he took up more space than either of them due to his considerably greater weight. They both scowled down at the second pot, then looked at each other.

**"Ladies first,"** grumbled Zuko.

Kali narrowed her eyes.

**"How polite of you,"** she said sarcastically.

She gripped the sides of the pot and carefully stepped in, swinging one leg in after the other while the two Lotus members held it stable. She lowered herself slowly into it and tried to scrunch herself up to the best of her ability, knowing Zuko would be joining her. She looked up to see Zuko staring down at the pot uneasily then heard one of the members urge him on. Soon, the pot opening was darkened as his foot entered the pot and stepped on her.

**"Ow!"**

His first foot was followed clumsily and hastily by his second and she struggled to adjust under him so that he wasn't still standing on her, which was very painful. Abruptly, he seemed to stumble due to her movements and soon all was dark as he slipped down on top of her. Assuming they were ready, the two lotus tile members dropped a plant with a large clump of dirt on top of them and they began to move.

**"Oh great,"** Kali managed to cough out against a part of Zuko she had managed to identify as his face thanks to his angry groans. Their faces were pressed tightly against each other, cheek to cheek. This might be worse than the closet, thought Kali. Both of them tried to shout for the members to stop but it was too late as they heard a door open and were forced to fall silent. Zuko tried to shift himself off her somewhat but things only worsened as they were slipped more tightly into place. She felt like they'd somehow become joined together, like a special kind of twins or something. As she came to terms with where everything was located, she realized it was even more uncomfortable than she'd anticipated. She hadn't thought it was possible….but it was. This really WAS worse than the closet.

When Zuko had fallen in, they'd become trapped in what were probably the worst positions possible. Zuko's hands, which he'd instinctively stuck out in front of him to catch himself with, were trapped awkwardly, one cushioned between Kali's boobs and the other practically groping her crotch. He hadn't realized this initially, but now she could tell he had as she felt him stiffen for a moment then heard a nervous gulp of air. She'd also stiffened, but had done so almost immediately after she'd felt him on her. Both of them breathed heavily into each others' ears and she could feel herself suddenly become warmer. Her legs were spread and she was balanced painfully on her knees and feet, essentially sitting somewhat on one of his legs while his other leg remained trapped folded up against him, also between her legs. Zuko was trying to pull his body away from hers in order to untrap his hands but was unable to move enough thanks to his leg positions and the pot against his back. As the pot moved slowly and shakily, Kali felt a shiver go down her spine despite how hot she was right now. She could feel Zuko's sweaty cheek against her own and his fingers twitching. She felt as though she were aware of every muscle in her body for the first time and wished desperately she weren't. Unable to do anything to solve their problem, the pair sprawled out trapped in the pot, conscious of their own breathing and heartbeats, as well as each others'.

XOXO

They began to move again, and they found a boat left by Sand benders at some point in time and they climbed aboard. It was better then walking. They sailed through the sand as though it were the ocean Sokka had seen earlier, though, much to Emi's chagrin, they found no mermaids. They did however find a large rock covered in buzzard waspsthat were not happy to see them. And on top of that, they nearly lost Momo to one, but Aang was able to retrieve him. But soon enough, they were back to the sailor, but they were not alone.

"**What are you doing in our land with a sandbender sailer from the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami tribe."** One Sandbender accused. Masami stepped forward, trying to keep the situation, and her exhausted temper, under control.

**"We found the sailer abandoned in the desert. We're traveling with the Avatar. Our bison was stolen and we have to get to Ba-Sing-Se."** She explained, but was cut off by one of the Benders.

"**You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailer?"** He cried, but was silenced.

**"Quiet, Gashuin. No one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality."** The older man reprimanded.

**"Sorry, father."** He said, lowering his head. All eyes went to Toph as she spoke,

_**"**_**I recognize the son's voice. He's the one that stole Appa."** She growled.

**"Are you sure?"** Masami whispered.

**"I never forget a voice."** Toph responded. Aang must have overheard because he started to advance on the men before them.

"**You stole Appa! Where is he? What did you do to him?"** Aang boomed,

"**They're lying! They're the thieves!"** The young man stuttered, Aang didn't like that either, and he swung his staff, obliterating one of their sailers.

_**"**_**Where is my bison?"** He growled, keeping a fighting stance. Masami didn't like how this was going, not one bit.

XOXO

Zuko's heart seemed to be trying to rip out of his chest. He stared wide-eyed at the darkness, the blood pumping through his veins too fast for his lungs to keep up it seemed. He was trying so hard to ignore it but he couldn't help it. His fingers seemed to jerk on their own as he struggled to resist an intense urge to explore their newfound territory. He was sweating heavily now, beads running down his face as well as the rest of his body. He wanted this ride of hell to be over so badly, the temptation to be gone, the feelings ended, and the pain from his body's cramping to end. Yet, at the same time, though he wouldn't admit to himself at the moment, he wanted it to keep going. Just a little more time. He and Kali had been tight in that damned closet but, compared to this, it seemed like nothing.

Kali groaned softly as her arms cramped further under the weight placed on them. They were trapped behind her back and thus were helping to support not only her own upper body but Zuko's as well, since he was shoved on top of her. She stared up into the darkness beside his ear, wondering how much longer they had until this would end. She shuddered again, as she reconsidered their current postions. She felt…more than she'd ever felt before. More of what, she hadn't decided. There seemed to be a multitude of feelings crowding in on her and she couldn't find the time to think clearly what with having to keep breathing. She opened her mouth for another gulp of air and a bead of Zuko's sweat dripped into her mouth, tasting of salt. She gulped more loudly than she'd intended to and tried to calm herself down, forcing herself to breathe evenly. But she still couldn't think straight. Part of her wanted to bust out of the pot right now and that seemed to be the overwhelming motion right now. But another part of her, much as she didn't want to admit it, wanted to do something else. Preferably not in this pot but…she forced her thoughts away from that. Ridiculous. Out of the question.  
She jerked her head with the intention of jerking away from those thoughts and, in doing so, realized she could jerk her head. At least she could move that. Evidently Zuko made a similar discovery. As she moved her head back from the smooth inside of the pot, she remet his face. But not his cheek.

For the first time since their stay at the Yings, their lips met. She'd convinced herself at this point that, because that hadn't been a purposeful or real kiss then, it meant absolutely nothing. She'd been wrong. They froze, their lips pressed together, unsure for a moment what to do next. Something in Kali's mind slipped, she felt Zuko's body relax somewhat for the first time, and before she knew what was happening, they were actually enjoying themselves for a change. That hadn't been a real kiss. But this sure as hell was. Her senses tingled, her breath caught, and her thoughts blurred as their tongues slowly caressed. There was a jolt as the pot stopped moving and, suddenly, light flooded into the pot. They pulled back slowly and stared at each other as someone offered them a hand up.

XOXO

"**You tell me where he is now!"** Aang shouted, swinging his to destroy another sailer.

_**"**_**What did you do?"** The boy's father asked cryptically.

"**I-It wasn't me!"** The boy urged,

**"You said to put a muzzle on him!"** Toph snapped.

"**You **_**muzzled**_** Appa?!"** Aang was beyond irate. The arrow on his head began to glow, and he moved his staff, destroying yet another sailer.

**"What's wrong with him?!"** Emi cried, clinging to Sokka,

**"I'm sorry! I didn't know that it belonged to the Avatar!"** The frightened boy cried,

_**"Tell**_** me where Appa is!"** Aang said, in a voice not his own.

**"I traded him! To some merchants! He's probably in Ba-Sing-Se by now! They were going to sell him there! Please! We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!"** The boy pleaded. Air began to swirl around Aang, Sokka looked at Masami, grabbed Toph and Emi and made a break for it.

_**"**_**Just get out of here! Run!"** Sokka told the rest of the Sandbenders. Masami moved closer to Aang, her small rob being blown in all directions. She gradually grew closer, and the wind stronger. She missed a step, and made noise behind Aang, he looked towards her, and moved his arm too sharply, creating a violent wind blast right to her face. She screamed, and was sent sailing backwards into some rocks. She could feel her vision start to narrow as she bashed her head against the rock, and she hit the ground, landing on her arm from earlier, though she had nearly forgotten she'd hurt it. She curled up lightly, only to have pain shoot from her sides as well. She felt her eyes sting with tears, but she couldn't do this, not here. She had to get to Aang.

She pulled herself up slowly, and she shakily made her way towards the boy again. She reached out and grabbed him, this time not getting blown away. He lowered himself to the ground, and she pulled him against her, holding him tightly, despite the protests of her sides and arm. She could feel tears against her shoulder, and she felt her own eyes leak slightly. She hadn't wanted to cry, but she couldn't help it. He slowly came off the anger rush he had been on moments before, and he began to shake. It was times like this she remembered he wasn't just the Avatar; savior of the World, he was also human, and more fragile then he ever let on.

She kissed his head, and she felt him pull her closer,

"**I'm sorry."** He whispered.

"**It's alright. Everything's going to be okay."** She soothed, he sagged against her, and they made their way past the Sandbenders, towards Toph and Sokka in silence.

XOXO

Kali stood outside the pot, dazed and waiting for her limbs to remember how to properly work. They hadn't really been in the pot that long but it seemed like a long time had passed between when she'd gotten in and when she'd gotten out. She stared out ahead of them, at the vague dusty road which would help lead them to Ba Sing Se. A whirlwind of emotions tore through her, but she suddenly felt too tired to deal with them. She had no time for this. She just…wasn't ready.

She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling emotions crashing down all around her. She missed Masami terribly at this moment, needing her there to talk to. This was something she couldn't talk to anyone else about and she felt so confused and torn, wishing she'd never gotten into that stupid pot. She felt as if she might cry, but told herself that would be truly stupid and that she definitely didn't have any time for that right now. She took a deep, deep breath, clearing her head as she exhaled. She resolved to try to keep it that way, at least until she had calmed down a bit and could think clearly. She turned to see Uncle looking at her worriedly, oblivious to what had occurred.  
**  
"Are you alright? You two look a little peaked. Was it too hot in there for you?"**

Zuko winced slightly and Kali nodded weakly.

**"Yes…we were…uh…a little tight in there. And it was pretty…hot."**

Uncle frowned.

**"Well, we can stop for the night if you don't think you're up for more traveling."**

Kali and Zuko quickly shook their heads.

**"No. No that's fine, I'm sure we can manage,"** Kali said hurriedly, while Zuko nodded in support.

**"Well, if you're sure,"** Uncle said, giving them a skeptical look. He bowed to the man who'd pulled them there and thanked him, before the man started on his way back to the town.

**"We'd best get started then, if we want to make it to the main camp before nightfall,"** he said, starting down the path.

Kali and Zuko followed silently, making sure to stay far apart and avoid each others' eyes.


	13. A large cob of corn!

Masami sat next to Toph, feet in the water, watching Aang. They'd finally gotten out of the desert and were now lounging comfortably by a pool at the bottom of a waterfall. Even better, Aang was finally acting more like himself. She watched as he floated along in the water, abruptly going under and coming up encased in ice and grinning. Seeing him looking happy again made her happy too, despite her injuries. One of her sides was badly bruised and sharp pain shot through it every time she stood or moved too much. Her arm was bruised as well and she could barely move it without feeling pain. Aang had bandaged both up for her and insisted that she not use her arm for a while or try to walk without help. Basically, he'd told her not to do anything without help. She was to call him whenever she needed anything. It made her sad, knowing how guilty he felt about having hurt her accidently. She'd tried to reassure him that she was and/or would be okay multiple times but she'd made little progress getting through to him.

Masami looked away from Aang briefly as she heard a loud splash nearby. Emi had jumped from a cliff above, landing happily with a huge splash which had sprayed water all over Toph and Sokka's papers.

**"Sure, 5000 year old maps from the spirit library, just splash some water on 'em,"** grumbled Sokka loudly.

**"Sorry,"** said Emi, looking genuinely distressed.  
**  
"I could pull the water out of them,"** said Masami, starting as if to stand. In a moment, Aang was beside her.

**"No, I'll do it. You just stay still and relax."**

He moved forward and bended the water out of the maps. Sokka spread the map out and explained to them that without Appa, their only route to Ba Sing Se appeared to be across a place called the Serpent's Pass. Masami shot him a dirty look for mentioning Appa and Emi told him it seemed rather insensitive to mention Appa now. Sokka frowned up at her but Aang remained calm.

**"I'm fine. I know I was upset about losing Appa before but now I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse."**

Emi and Masami gave him questioning looks but just then an unexpected trio of travelers appeared.  
**  
"Hello there, fellow refugees!"** called the man.

Masami looked over at them irritably but softened when she saw that one of the women was pregnant. They soon learned that the three people were on their way to Ba Sing Se as well and that they were going to just cross one of the huge lakes to Ba Sing Se on a ferry, instead of taking the Serpent's Pass. According to them, the Serpent's Pass was very dangerous.

**"Nice pick, Sokka,"** Masami commented sarcastically.

They were soon on their way to Full Moon Bay.

XOXO

Zuko and Kali stood on either side of Uncle uncomfortably as they waited in line at the landing for the ferries that would take them across the lake to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. They'd been in line for a three hours now. Zuko glowered crankily at nothing in particular while Kali stared ahead and chatted a bit with Uncle. She and Zuko hadn't spoken since their time together in the pot except when absolutely necessary. Which meant, all in all, they'd probably said a total of three to five words to each other between themselves. They were almost to the front of the line now. Kali was startled to recognize Po Po, the cabbage merchant from Haruka's inn, a few people in front of them. He looked dejected as he was pulled out of line and ordered to come back later after he had left his cabbages elsewhere. She watched as he walked to the back of the line, which was well out of sight. She wondered if he'd just get back in line and try again or actually get rid of the cabbages. She figured it probably wasn't easy to give them up but what could he do, really? Kali smirked as she noticed a large group of boys dressed as the Avatar with fake tattoos on and everything. Apparently, they'd been pretty desperate to get into Ba Sing Se. Must not have had passports. She was tempted to lean over and tell Zuko he should just pick one out since there were so many, but then she recalled they were trying to avoid each other as much as possible.

They finally reached the front of the line. An ugly, scowling, little woman sat above them over a tall desk.

**"Next!"**

Uncle reached the front of the line and extended their passports to her.

**"3 for Ba Sing Se, please."**

She snatched them away and looked them over critically. She looked up at them and eyed Uncle for a moment.

**"Mushi, is it?"**

**"That is correct,"** he nodded, smiling pleasantly.

She glanced back at the passports and raised her eyebrows as she looked back up at Kali and Zuko, staring at Zuko's face before looking over at Kali.

**"Nice catch, doll,"** she said in a nasty sarcastic voice, **"Must have been desperate to settle for only half a face."  
**  
Before Kali or Zuko could react, she stamped their passports and yelled,

**"Next!"**

Uncle ushered Zuko to the side hastily before he could do anything more than clench his fists and grit his teeth. Kali gave the lady a nasty look as she followed the others.

**"Uncle, what'd she mean by that?"** grumbled Zuko as they searched for seats in the waiting area.

**"Oh,"** said Uncle, **"I guess I forgot to tell you. When I had our passports made, I decided to change your relationship so that you were no longer brother and sister."**

Zuko and Kali raised their eyebrows.

**"So what are we now?"** asked Kali, uneasily.

Uncle grinned widely.

**"You're engaged!"**

XOXO

"**I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation,"** said Emi, staring at the huge crowd of refugees gathered in the cave which contained the landing for the ferries across Full Moon Bay.

**"We're all looking for a better life,"** said Than, the man they'd met earlier**, "Safe, behind the walls of Ba Sing Se."  
**  
They found the end of the enormous line for the ferries and, begrudgingly, the group got into line while Than, his wife Ying, and their midwife Yang left to eat and rest. Masami, due to Aang's insistence, spent most of her time in line, sitting and scooting along the ground as the line slowly crept forward. It made her feel useless not even being able to stand in line but it seemed to make Aang feel better to have her seated. As long as it made him feel better…

Hours later, they arrived at the front. Masami watched as an intensely distraught merchant of cabbage was carried off by security after a platypus bear in a uniform destroyed his cabbages. She glared fiercely at an ugly little woman who was now treating Aang very nastily. She had a mind to stand up and whip some water into the lady's face but she knew it would upset Aang so she just clenched her teeth and fists and stayed seated. Sokka momentarily distracted her by pointing out all of the Aang imposters on their right.

**"None of you come even close to doing him justice!"** she shouted angrily at them, then looked up as Aang returned to their group sadly without any tickets.

**"I'll take care of this,"** said Toph quietly.

Toph handed her passport to the woman and before Masami knew it, the nasty bitch was bowing and they had their tickets. She leaned heavily on Aang as he helped her walk down the landing towards where their ferry was located. They looked behind them suddenly to see that Sokka had been stopped by a girl about their age dressed in a security guard's uniform. Masami thought there was something vaguely familiar about her.

**"You mean you don't remember?"** they heard her say gruffly, **"Maybe you'll remember this!"**

Masami heard Emi gasp as the girl kissed Sokka on the cheek.

**"Suki!"** shouted Sokka, sounding delighted and hugging her. As he turned to look at the others, however, his expression changed from happy to awkward. Masami glanced at Emi to see her looking visibly vexed. She remembered now where she knew the girl from.

**"Ummm, Emi, this is Suki. She's uh well um I, that is Aang and I, met her on Kyoshi Island while we were staying there."**

**"Nice to meet you,"** said Suki tentatively, apparently sensing the tension.

Emi nodded.

**"You too,"** she said stiffly.

Sokka looked over at Masami.

**"And don't you two already know each other, Masami?"**

Suki's eyes brightened.

**"Masami! Wow, I haven't seen you since…well, since you left  
Kyoshi a few years ago. How are you? And where's Kali?"**

Masami frowned.

**"Well, right now, I'm kinda hurt,"** she felt Aang wince slightly under her arm and winced as well in response, **"and Kali…well, that's kind of a long story but basically…I don't really know."  
**  
**"I'm sorry to hear that,"** said Suki, then looked back at the overall group.

**"Are you guys in a hurry to catch a ferry or do you have time to talk for a little while? I'm actually just about to go on break and I'd love to catch up with you for a bit."  
**  
She looked back at Sokka, who looked down uneasily.

**"Well-"**

Aang cut him off.

**"Sure we do. Where should we meet you?"**

A few minutes later, they stood in a tower of sorts overlooking the bay. Masami tried to be attentive at first, listening as Aang and Sokka exchanged news with Suki while Emi pouted in a corner. Soon though, her thoughts drifted elsewhere, then suddenly she heard someone shout Aang's name and they were on their way back to the long line. Apparently, Than and his family had been robbed of virtually everything. Their backpacks had been emptied of supplies and passports and now they had no way to get to Ba Sing Se. Aang pleaded with the bitchy little lady to let them onto the ferry but she shouted something about it being the end of civilization and stamped Aang's forehead, making Masami want to explode. She scowled as Ying began to cry. Aang stood in front of them with a determined expression on his face.

**"Don't worry, you'll get to the city safely,"** he said, reassuring them. For a moment, Masami felt better.

**"I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass,"** he finished. They all stared at him. Masami didn't feel better anymore.

XOXO

Kali leaned back against the railing and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the breeze and the sun as the ferry pulled forward. For a moment, she let herself take a break from thinking and just absorbed the day. All too soon, she was brought back by the sound of Uncle's voice speaking solemnly.

**"Who would have thought, after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace…as a tourist!"**

Kali turned to him in surprise and saw him don a flowered hat cheerfully. Zuko looked back at him, scowling heavily.  
**  
"Look around, we're not tourists, we're refugees,**" he stated despondently, then sipped from the bowl of food he held. Immediately, he spat it out.

**"Uhhh! I'm sick of eating rotten food and sleeping in the dirt... I'm tired of living like this."**

**"Aren't we all?"** interjected a new voice.

Zuko, Kali, and Uncle turned toward where a tall boy in a rag tag uniform of sorts with a stalk of grass sticking out of his mouth leaned against a post. He stood as he continued.

**"My name's Jet, and these are my freedom fighters, Smellerbee, and Longshot."**

Kali eyed the slyly smiling Jet uneasily as two other people emerged next to him. Freedom fighters, huh?

**"Hey,"** nodded Smellerbee while the one called Longshot nodded in greeting. Kali looked at Smellerbee a little closer then determined she was, in fact, a girl. The ambiguous haircut and outfit made it somewhat difficult to tell at first.

**"Hello,"** replied Zuko shortly, looking back over the lake.

**"Hey,"** said Kali, leaning back against the rail again, still looking Jet and his friends over.

Jet advanced, gesturing as he spoke.  
**  
"Here's the deal. I hear the captain's eating like a king, while us refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"**

Kali frowned. That didn't seem fair. She looked down at the bowl of food Zuko was holding. It did appear to be just a bunch of scraps. What's more, some of it looked like the parts of the food that weren't supposed to be eaten. Great.

**"What sort of 'king' is he eating like?"** asked Uncle, also frowning.

**"The fat, happy kind,"** replied Jet grimly.

Kali glanced at Uncle to see his mouth open and drooling. She looked away, back at Jet, somewhat embarrassed.

**"You want to help us 'liberate' some food?"** finished Jet.

So that was what he wanted. She glanced over at Zuko uneasily as he threw his bowl away into the lake angrily and turned.

**"I'm in,"** he said.

Jet and his friends looked back at Kali and so did Zuko. She wasn't sure how she felt about this. They'd be stealing and she'd been trying to discourage Zuko from that. But on the other hand…she looked around at all the other people on the boat. Many of them looked like they could use a decent meal for a change. She looked back at Jet.

"**Would we be 'liberating' enough for the rest of the boat, not just ourselves?"**

Jet nodded and smiled.

**"Absolutely."**

Much as she hated to do something like that again and take the risk that this Jet guy was telling the truth, it seemed wrong for so many people to get so little when one man apparently had so much. Especially when half of those people looked like they were starving.

She took another look around at the rest of the refugees. Well, if they were going to do wrong, might as well do it big. It was for a good purpose, she told herself, reasoning. And besides, they'd do it with or without her, right?

**" Fine,"** she said, stepping forward to join them.

XOXO

"**I can't believe we gave up our tickets, and now we're going through the Serpent's Pass,"** groaned Sokka.

**"I can't believe you're still complaining about it,"** grumbled Toph.

Emi walked along silently, purposefully not looking at Sokka. She didn't know what to think. She told herself she was overreacting about Suki. It'd only been a peck on the cheek. How serious could it be, right? She and Sokka had actually shared real kisses and even a few hickeys sometimes when they managed to sneak away from the others. Then again, though, Sokka had seemed really happy to see Suki. Her thoughts were interrupted as the last person she wanted to see right now showed up and informed them she was coming with them. Sokka glanced at Emi then looked back at Suki.

**"Are you sure that's a good idea?"**

Suki frowned.

**"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come."**

**"I do, it's just-"**

**"Just what?"**

Sokka stared at her for a moment then looked away.  
**  
"Nothing. I'm glad you're coming."**

Emi looked away, crossing her arms, and slowed down so that she was walking behind Sokka and Suki. She walked a little ways away from Aang and Masami, wondering who Sokka liked more. After all, he'd just told Suki he was glad she was coming. Did he really even care about her at all or was she just someone to give him hickeys whenever he felt like relaxing? She stared at Sokka and Suki, feeling confused. Her thoughts were interrupted again as Masami spoke.

**"Don't worry. I'm sure Sokka likes you more. Suki's cool but you're prettier and sweeter. Sokka really cares about you."**

**"Thanks,"** said Emi, trying to smile. It didn't make her feel too much better though, as she looked back at Sokka and Suki.

Masami frowned as they reached the Serpent's Pass. She was concerned about Emi and Sokka but even more now she was concerned about crossing this tiny, treacherous looking path between two huge lakes. Ying read a piece of graffiti on the gate post in front of them.

**"Abandon hope. How awful. How could be abandon hope when hope is all we have?"**

She leaned against Than for comfort. Aang spoke evenly.

**"I don't know. The monks used to say that hope is just a distraction. So maybe we do need to abandon it."**

**"What do you mean?"** asked Yang.

**"Hope isn't going to get us into Ba Sing Se, and it's not gonna find Appa. We need to focus on what we're doing right now, and that's getting across this pass."**

Masami said nothing. Now she had another concern. Even more pressing. Great.

XOXO

Kali led Zuko, Jet, and Smellerbee up the stairs quietly. They crouched in the stairwell as a guard passed, holding a lantern. Once he'd gotten a little ways away from them, the four of them hastily finished climbing the stairwell and ran back around to where Smellerbee and Jet had located the kitchen earlier. They looked through the windows briefly. There was no one there and SO MUCH FOOD. Kali peaked around a corner. No one was there either. She nodded to the others and Jet, Zuko, and she took places around the door while Smellerbee took the position of lookout outside. Jet forced the door open and they quickly entered and began grabbing food, stuffing it in sacks. Kali opened drawers, grabbing some jars of preserves while Jet filled his sack with the poultry hanging in the windows. She glanced over her shoulder to see Zuko neatly stack eight plates of food on top of each other using his swords and tie them together with a ribbon. It was an impressive little maneuver. It reminded her that they hadn't sparred during the past couple of mornings. She missed it, she realized. She always enjoyed it a lot when they sparred. It felt good to have someone to practice with and even better when she beat him. The three of them glanced at the windows as they heard Smellerbee.

**"Guards coming!"**

They hurried out and stood next to the railing by Smellerbee as she signaled Longshot. An arrow landed in the railing with a rope tied to it. Jet tested it quickly and, having determined it was safe, slid himself and the food down it. Zuko, Kali, and Smellerbee followed immediately after. They landed and looked back up to see a guard pass through where they'd been standing moments before as Longshot retracted his arrow. Having safely accomplished their mission, they silently slunk back to where they'd left Uncle.

XOXO

Everyone followed them somberly as Aang stepped forward with Masami leaning on him. As they walked along the slim, dangerous path, they noticed Fire Nation ships to their left.

**"The fire nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side, and they don't want anyone to find out what it is,"** explained Suki.

Just then, the ground beneath Than crumbled and he started to fall. Toph acted quickly, saving him and bouncing him back up.  
**  
"I'm okay!" **he said as Ying and Yang grabbed him.

But what about everyone else? thought Masami sourly, as the Fire Nation ships apparently noticed them.

**"Emi, support Masami!"** shouted Aang, as he leapt forward to defend them from the ships' attacks. Emi grabbed Masami to keep her from falling, caught off guard. One of the ships' fire balls hit the cliff above Suki and Masami and Emi looked back to see Sokka push her to safety. Emi shrieked as rocks plummeted towards Sokka. Again Toph acted quickly, averting the rocks with another rock and saving Sokka.

**"Are you alright?"** he asked Suki.  
**  
"Sokka, I'm fine,"** she insisted, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. Masami glanced at Emi, who looked down at the ground as Sokka and Suki passed them.

**"Emi! Masami! C'mon!"** shouted Sokka, pausing to look back at them. Seeing them struggling, since Emi wasn't quite as strong as Aang, he ran back and left Suki to continue on by herself. He eased Masami away from Emi so that she was leaning on him instead, so that they could move faster. He looked at Emi and put a hand on her shoulder.

**"Emi, you should hurry and catch up with Suki. I don't want you to get hurt."**

She looked into his eyes for a moment, then nodded and ran. Sokka tugged Masami along quickly. Masami looked up at him, after checking to make sure Aang was doing alright.

**"You need to pick one, Sokka,"** she stated bluntly.

**"What?"** he asked, his voice squeaking.  
**  
"You know what I'm talking about. And I say you pick Emi. She's sweet, pretty, and you mean the world to her. Right now, you're hurting her. It's not fair to Suki either. She has no idea what's wrong."**

He looked away.

**"I know...you're right. I'll tell her tonight. I'll tell both of them."**

Aang landed beside them as they finally found themselves safely removed from the ships' reach.

XOXO

Kali and Jet walked around handing food to the other refugees on the boat. It made her feel better about having stolen from the captain to see how happy and relieved most of the people looked as they received their portion of the food. She finished handing out what she had and returned to sit with Zuko, Uncle, Longshot, and Smellerbee. As she approached them she heard Uncle talking.

**"So, Smellerbee, that's an unusual name for a young man,"** he said, trying to be friendly.

Kali smacked herself in the face as Smellerbee stood, obviously insulted.

**"Maybe it's because I'm not a man. I'm a girl!"**

She turned and stormed off towards Kali.

**"Oh I see now,"** Uncle called after her, **"It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!"**

Kali turned to Smellerbee as she began to walk past her.

**"He didn't mean anything by it. Really. And if it makes you feel any better, that happens to me sometimes too. Especially since I just wear pants too and I'm kind of tall for a girl."**

Smellerbee paused to look up at her.

**"I hadn't really thought about that. I don't think I've ever met another girl who wears pants like men usually wear."**

Kali shrugged and smiled somewhat sheepishly.

**"Well, me neither. Guess we have now though."**

Longshot stood next to Smellerbee with his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him for a moment then looked down.

**"I know. You're right. As long as I'm confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think."**

She looked back up at Kali.

**"And at least I'm not the only girl who wears pants. Thanks."**

She looked from Kali, who smiled, to Longshot, who nodded at her. They returned to sit down by Uncle and Zuko just as Jet joined them as well. Kali began to eat her meal hungrily as Jet talked excitedly.  
**  
"From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."**

**"It is a magnificent sight,"** said Uncle.

**"So you've been there before?"**

**"Once,"** replied Uncle, looking away, **"when I was a different man…"**

Jet glanced at Smellerbee and Longshot then looked down.

**"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of. But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning,"** he paused**, "A second chance."**

**"That's very noble of you,"** replied Uncle, **"I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances."  
**  
He and Kali both looked over at Zuko, who looked back at Uncle for a moment, then down into his bowl of food. Kali looked down to see that she'd finished her meal. She hadn't realized how hungry she was. She stood quietly as the conversation continued without her. She leaned against the railing and stared out into the darkness. She watched the moon and its reflection as they lit up the sky and the lake.

XOXO

Masami leaned against a rock, playing with Mushi the pentapus. She'd found an indentation in a rock that was perfect for pouring his water out in. She figured she hadn't changed his water since some time before they'd gotten trapped in the desert, which was why it didn't look safe to drink anymore. She bended a bit of the water from her water skin into his container, which was a second water skin she'd modified in Omashu when she'd decided to keep him. He crawled up her arm, his suckers tickling her as he did so. Pentapi were surprisingly smart for little creatures that lived in rivers and sewers. She looked over at the married couple not far from her. They were a cute couple really. The man seemed kind and was very attentive towards his wife. His wife seemed sweet and caring as well. Watching them made her think of her and Aang. She was still worried about him, especially after what he'd said about hope earlier. She scanned the campsite and saw that he was missing. For a moment, she started to panic. Then she spotted him standing alone on a ledge jutting out a little ways from where they were. She left Mushi playing in his little pool and walked over to Aang, slowly and painfully. It helped that Sokka had found a good size tree branch of sorts for her to lean on as a crutch while looking for firewood. Eventually, she managed to toddle out to stand next to him. He didn't look at her, still staring out towards the moon. After a moment, she cleared her throat and he looked at her finally.

**"I'm worried about you,"** she said. Aang frowned.

"**Really, why?"**

**"Well, you just don't seem like yourself lately. I mean, you were…so angry in the desert and now you're not anymore, which is great, but you still don't seem like yourself. Are you okay?"**

He looked away.

**"I'm sorry to worry you. I'm fine, really. It's just that…before, when we were in the desert, I was so upset about losing Appa that I lost control of myself. I let my anger over losing Appa get the best of me when I should have been focusing on getting us out of the desert…and I hurt you."**

The last words were quiet and filled with the emotions Aang seemed to be trying to repress. Masami put her hand on his shoulder.

**"Aang, you can't blame yourself for that. Sokka told me you go into the Avatar state whenever you're really upset or in danger. It's not something you can control and you had every reason to be furious with those sandbenders. And besides, I'd already hurt myself anyway and if I'd been more careful, I wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place. I don't want you to let that bother you."**

She was getting teary now and she worried Aang would see. She didn't want him to blame that on himself too.

**"I know you still miss Appa, Aang, and I know it must hurt, but don't give up on hoping and caring just because it hurts."**

She leaned in as he looked back at her, her face close to his as she tried to hold back the tears.

**"I don't want to lose you too."**

His expression softened. He turned and embraced her, then she kissed him tenderly. For a moment, she thought he seemed more like himself. Then he pulled back and his face returned to being expressionless.  
**  
"C'mon**," he said, beginning to lead her back, **"You need your rest."**

XOXO

Kali stared at the moon. It was beautiful. It made her think of the princess from the North Pole who turned into the moon. And thinking back to the North Pole made her think of Obi and all the other crewmates from Zuko's ship. She wondered whether anyone else had died or if they'd managed to escape like she hoped Kahn had. She still had Obi's little carving he'd slipped into her pocket when he'd died. Somehow, she doubted she'd ever see Garron again to give it to him. She felt sure it'd been meant for him.

Thinking of the North Pole was making her much sadder than she'd intended to become so she forced her thoughts away from it. Back to a more present problem. Zuko. She'd hardly been able to believe it when Uncle had told them they were, for official passport purposes, engaged. Of course, they weren't really engaged, but that was the story Uncle was telling everyone. EVERYONE. Anyone who would listen, it seemed. It was incredibly embarrassing and made things between her and Zuko even more awkward. Especially when various people they didn't know at all congratulated them. Kali would smile uncomfortably and thank them while Zuko would either blush awkwardly or look away irritably. They'd told Uncle to stop telling people but it seemed he hadn't. He acted as if he were Zuko's proud excited father. It was quite obvious that he either simply enjoyed embarrassing them or wanted them to actually end up together. Kali was betting on the second…or at least that it was the stronger motive. She wondered why. Even if they did both like each other a bit more than just as friends, which, much as she hated to admit it, she knew was true of how she felt anyway, there was no way things could end up well. After all, in the end, he was the prince of the Fire Nation and was determined to capture the Avatar, where she was just some half-blood wanderer who was determined to find her sister and help her defend the Avatar. She heard someone walking behind her nearby and glanced to her left to see Zuko lean against the railing next to her. She looked back at the moon for a moment then sighed. She figured they should probably start talking to each other in whole sentences again at some point, so why not now?

XOXO

Sokka sat staring at the moon. At Yue, he thought, thinking back to how guilty he'd felt when he and Emi had first gotten together. Now he was feeling guilty again only this time it was because he had two girls who liked him and thought he felt the same way. In a way, he felt he should be happy. After all, it wasn't every day a guy was lucky enough to have two lovely ladies fall for him. But he couldn't be happy. Masami'd been right. He had to make a choice. And right now, he wasn't sure who to choose. Much as he liked Emi and enjoyed being with her, a part of him had still missed Suki and thought about her off and on. Now that she was here…things were so confusing. But he had to make a choice some time soon before things got too complicated. He looked up as Suki joined him.

**"It's a beautiful moon."**

**"Yeah, it really is."**

She sat down beside him.

**"I missed you a lot after you left,"** she said, **"I know I only had a few days to get to know you but…well, I was really glad to have those few days."**

**" Me too. I've missed you a lot too."**

She leaned closer to him. He leaned back and their mouths started to connect. Abruptly, he pulled back. Suki looked startled then looked away.

**"I'm sorry."**

**"No,"** he replied quickly, **"I'm sorry."**

**"Sokka…you've been acting weird since I found you guys back at the landing," she paused, then continued more quietly, "And Emi…I wanted to ask…is there something between you and her?"**

Sokka looked up at her. This was it. This was the moment when he had to make the choice. Suki or Emi? Or neither? He couldn't have both, that much he knew.

**"I…yeah. Yeah there is, or has been at least. I just…I'm not sure what to think. I mean, I like both of you…a lot and…"**

He looked up at Suki, who looked away, looking slightly hurt.  
**  
"And you're not sure who you'd rather be with, is that it?"  
**  
**"I…"** he stared at her, wanting to make her feel better. But he just couldn't.

**"I think…I think I'd like to just stay with Emi. I mean, we've been together for a little while now. But I'm…not sure. You're…a great person too."**

Neither of them spoke for a long time. Finally, Suki spoke.

**"I'm…not really sure what to say,"** she said, looking back up at him, **"I like you, Sokka. A lot. But if I'm making things harder for you, maybe it'd be better if I just left sooner."**

**"Sooner?"** he asked.  
**  
"I came along because I wanted to make sure you got across the Serpent's Pass safely."**

**"So, you came along…to protect me?"**

She stood.

**"Yeah, but I guess I should leave now. You have Aang and Masami after all and I know you can handle yourself. I must be making Emi upset with how I've been acting and all. I should have realized-"**

**"No,"** he cut her short, **"it's my fault. I should have told you from the beginning. I was so confused that I just…didn't know what to do really. I'm sorry."**

**"It's okay,"** she replied.

They stood looking at each other for a moment then, tentatively, she leaned forward and hugged him.

**"It was good to see you again, Sokka."**

**"It was great to see you too, Suki. You're sure you'll be alright going back?"**

She smiled slightly.

**"I'll be fine. I can handle myself."**

**"Yeah, I know."**

As she began to leave, she turned.

**"Sokka…if you change your mind, I still like you, you know."** He smiled.

**"Thanks Suki."**

With that, she left. Sokka stared after her for a little while. Finally, he sat back down on the rock and gazed at the moon again, wondering if he'd made the right decision.

XOXO

"**So what are we going to do about this whole 'engaged' thing?"**

Zuko looked over at her then looked away again.

**"Well? Any ideas on how to get Uncle to stop telling everyone?"**

Still no reply. Annoyed, she decided on a different tactic.

**"Frankly, I really sick of being congratulated about my imaginary engagement to a cranky peasant boy."  
**  
That worked.

**"I'm not a peasant!"** he spat.

**"Glad to hear we're talking again."**

They looked at each other sheepishly then looked away again, Zuko twiddling his thumbs nervously.

**"Look,"** Kali said, **"I'm…sorry about what happened…before. In the pot. I…don't know what…well, what I was thinking, I guess."  
**

After a moment which seemed far too long to her, he replied.  
**  
"Me too. I…it wasn't just you. I don't know what I was thinking either."**

Both of them stared out into the night. It really wasn't just me, thought Kali, slightly surprised and, to her chagrin, pleased. He had feelings for her after all. Or at least, he had some kind of feelings. Enough that he'd kissed her as much as she'd kissed him. But that was a bad thing, wasn't it? She glanced around to see if anyone was near them. Nobody was.

**"Yeah…well…I guess, even if we had been thinking, it could never have worked out, right? What with you being a prince after the Avatar and all…so…yeah,"** she finished lamely, unable to think of how to finish or how what she'd just said should have come out. For a while, neither of them said anything, Kali mentally kicking herself in the face. Finally, Zuko turned to her.

**"Do you think-"**

He was abruptly cut off by a shout from behind them.

**"There they are! The newly engaged couple! Congratulations!"**

Both of their faces dropped and they slowly turned around as three cheerful ladies walked up to them, Uncle following behind with a big smile on his face.

**"Yes, I am soooo proud of my nephew for choosing such a fine young lady to be his bride,"** Uncle said, winking at Zuko auspiciously. The ladies all laughed and agreed with him.

**"Your uncle was telling us how you two came to kiss for the first time,"** one lady said.

**"Oh, um, really?"** asked Zuko, scratching the back of his head and noticeably blushing.

**"Yes, we think it's cute that you were so shy you had to make it look like an accident. slipping on a cabbage which just happened to be in the street. Of course, I'm sure you knew what he was up to all along,"** said another one of the ladies, nodding to Kali and patting her shoulder. Kali wanted to escape this situation but the ladies all seemed so earnestly interested and nice that she was having trouble thinking of a polite way to get out of it.

**"Er, well, yes, but I wasn't going to tell him that," **she said, trying to buy time. Unfortunately, they were attracting a crowd as the ladies and Uncle were talking rather loudly. She wondered if perhaps these women had gotten into the wine Jet had nabbed from the captain's supplies.

**"You should see them kiss now. It's so tender and sweet,"** said Uncle.

Zuko shot him a dirty look and Kali resisted the urge to smack herself in the face. He was really laying this on thickly wasn't he? No doubt about what he was trying to do anymore. Perhaps he'd had some wine too? She knew he liked tea more but nonetheless, this was ridiculous.

**"Oh, show us!"** exclaimed someone and before they knew it, there were more shouts. Yep, this was a drunk crowd, alright. Kali saw one man wave a bottle and heard someone else shout,

**"Open another! Drinks for the happy couple and the marriage to come!"**

Geez, this must be some powerful stuff to have them like this already. Zuko and Kali stared at each other. What now?  
**  
"Kiss her!"** shouted another person.

**"And no pecking! A real kiss!"**

**"Yeah, c'mon, let's see the love!"**

Begrudgingly, now that they were surrounded by drunk, insistent people, they turned to each other. Just a short kiss wouldn't hurt, right?

As uncomfortable as it was, in front of so many people who were cheering and clapping and whistling at them, Kali enjoyed every second of it. And from the look on Zuko's face after they pulled away, so had he. The crowd was satisfied and soon the drunkenness had subsided and nearly all of the boat was asleep. Neither Kali nor Zuko managed to get much sleep that night.

XOXO

Masami awoke the next morning to Sokka shaking her.

**"Have you seen Emi?"**

**"No," she snapped, "In case you didn't notice, I WAS SLEEPING!"**

He looked around worriedly,

**"She's not here and neither is any of her stuff."**  
**  
"Well, did she leave?"** asked Aang, who'd woken from his place next to Masami and was rubbing his eyes.

**"I don't know. I know Suki left last night but I haven't seen Emi since we made camp yesterday. I'm worried."**

**"Why'd Suki leave?"** asked Aang, standing.

**"It's…kind of a complicated answer,"** replied Sokka uncomfortably**, "I'll…tell you later."  
**  
Masami hauled herself up slowly onto her crutch and irritably began to look around. She didn't really expect to see anything Sokka hadn't already but she figured sheat least should try to look for Emi. She tripped over something after a few steps and fell flat on her face. It was Sokka's sleeping bag. Grumbling, she sat up and clutched her injured arm. Then, she spotted it. A small note left in front of Sokka's pillow. She picked it up and opened it. It didn't say much but the message was clear enough.

**"Sokka, you'd better come see this,"** she said slowly, wondering exactly what'd happened.

Sokka and Aang hurried over and Sokka took the note.

**"What'd you do?"** Masami asked, annoyed.

**"I…I didn't do anything,"** he said, sounded both perplexed and upset,** "I mean…last night, I made my choice. I told Suki I wanted to stay with Emi. That's basically why she left, really. I don't understand…"**

The note contained only four words.

_"Good-bye, Sokka. –Emi"_

Sokka, Aang, and Masami all stared down at the note sadly, wondering why she'd left.

XOXO

Kali stretched and stood. She glanced down to see Zuko awake as well but still pretending to be asleep, then walked over toward the front of the ship slowly. It was a foggy day but, in the distance, she could just barely make out the enormous wall. Ba Sing Se. She'd always heard about it but, somehow, she'd never actually expected to go there. She stood, for a while, just staring ahead, thinking about what might await them behind that wall and about Zuko, how she felt about him, and what to do about the current situation. Eventually, she got tired of thinking about it. She was just tired in general though. She looked back as she heard a crash and saw that Uncle had woken up. He appeared to be tottering around a bit and Zuko apparently wasn't in the mood for helping him. It was early so most people weren't awake yet. Considering the condition he'd been in the night before, she was shocked to see Uncle up already. She walked over to him briskly and helped steady him. He clutched her shoulder with one hand and her head with his other.

**"Ooooooh, I feel TERRIBLE."**

He looked up at her sheepishly.  
**  
"Do you know what happened to me last night? As embarrassing as this is, the last thing I can remember really is drinking some special tea a kind man made me and then something involving dancing, a large cob of corn, and how pretty the girls in Ba Sing Se are."**

Kali winced. She remembered it well. She'd actually been the one to pull him down from the table which he'd been dancing on and had insisted that he not agree to prove that his...well, that something was bigger than the cob of corn. As for the singing, it'd been somewhat funny the first time the group had song it but after the seventh time, Kali had absolutely insisted that Uncle needed his rest and forced him down into his sleeping bag, despite his sleepy protests.

**"Well…let's just say you had a lot of fun and made some new friends."**

He brightened.

**"Oh…well that's good."**

**"Just do me a favor, though, and don't take any more 'special drinks' from people, okay?"**

He nodded.

**"Hmmm that sounds like a wise move to me. One last question…am I correct in remembering that you and my nephew kissed?"**

**"Um…well, yes. You all insisted that we had to since we're 'engaged',"** she waved a scolding finger at him, **"You started it."**

**"Oh…well…"**

Uncle looked away guiltily but Kali was fairly certain she saw a smile tug at the corner of his mouth.

XOXO

Masami stumped along, wishing she would hurry up and get well so she didn't have to rely on this annoying crutch anymore. She thought back to some of the healing lessons she'd learned in the North Pole and wondered if she should try them on herself but decided against it. She hadn't learned them very well. Healing just didn't seem to come naturally to her. She was so distracted thinking that she didn't realize everyone had stopped until she bumped into Sokka from behind. She started to lose her balance and fall but Than helped her recover quickly. She thanked him then moved forward to look at what everyone else was staring at. She scowled. The path dropped off into the water for several feet and reappeared a good ways away. How were they supposed to cross that? After a moment or two, Aang and Toph both glanced over at Sokka.

**"C'mon Sokka, you're the idea guy. This is your job,"** said Toph, crossing her arms.

Sokka frowned.

**"So I'm the only one allowed to come up with ideas? Why don't Aang and Masami just bend the water out of the way?"**

**"Masami's injured, Sokka! She can't do that,"** Aang said quickly before Masami had a chance to respond.

She looked down at her feet, feeling useless.

**"Okay, fine. Could you do it alone, Aang?"**

**"I'm not sure. I mean, I could give it a try maybe but I haven't completely mastered water yet and that's a lot of water to hold up alone. Masami's still teaching me."**

**"Well…"** Sokka trailed off. Masami could see his head just wasn't in it. He was probably too distracted by thoughts of Suki and Emi. She felt bad for him. He'd tried to do the right thing and ended up losing both of the girls he liked. She wondered why Emi had left and if they'd see her again. She stared out across the water. Aang could probably bend the water just fine but he was right, it was a lot to handle all by himself. Besides, that'd be terrifying. They'd be completely surrounded by water and she didn't think she could handle that. Toph could only bend earth so how would that help? Earth was what they needed but-

**"I've got it!"** shouted Sokka.

**"What is it?"** asked Toph.

**"Toph, you can bend a huge piece of earth to be like an island and then use it to ferry us across."**

**"Just one problem," she frowned, "I won't be able to see where I'm bending us to."**

**"We can guide you. Y'know, give you directions. Or maybe Aang could just use the water to push us across. He could make it form a wave type thing to carry the island on."**

**"If you say so."**

Toph lifted and shaped a large circular piece of land in the water. Everyone boarded it and Aang began bending to water to push them across to the other side. Initially things went well until the water around them began stirring. Masami gasped as she saw a huge fin snake around their island. Suddenly their island was pitched into the air. Everyone screamed but Aang managed to bend the island into the appropriate place to catch everyone.

Everyone except Toph, who screamed as she was pitched into the water.

**"Help! I can't swim!"**

**"I'm coming Toph!"** shouted Sokka, who quickly dove into the water after her. Meanwhile, Masami and the others stared up in horror at the huge sea serpent that had attacked them. It loomed above them now, poised for striking, and issued a fierce, shrill scream. Aang turned to her abruptly.

**"I need to distract that thing to keep it from attacking us. Masami, can you get everyone across? I know you're hurt but-"**

She stopped him.  
**  
"I'll get us across but I don't want you fighting that thing. I don't want you to get hurt!"**

**"I'll be fine,"** he insisted, **"but as soon as I leave, this island will probably begin to sink without me or Toph."  
**  
Masami thought for a second then moved quickly, freezing the nearest water into a thick piece of ice.

**"Everyone onto the ice!"** she called. As they began to clamber onto the ice, Sokka returned pulling Toph through the water.

**"Oh Sokka, you saved me!"** cried Toph cheerfully, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

**"Uh, well, you're welcome, Toph"** Sokka replied, blushing.

Aang meanwhile struck the serpent to deter it from attacking them and left, flying to lead the serpent elsewhere. Masami watched him, distracted as she froze a solid path of ice to the land. She was just in time, as the makeshift island sunk into the water. Than and Yang helped Ying across while Sokka helped steady Masami and Toph. Soon they had all reached the safety of solid ground and Masami shouted for Aang to come back. He whacked the serpent into a large rock with a powerful blast of air then joined them on the ground. They watched as the serpent slunk away in the water and everyone cheered for Aang.

XOXO

The captain of the ferry was furious to discover so much of his supplies missing but no one among the refugees had given away who the thieves had been fortunately. Kali, Uncle, and Zuko sat in silence, eating their breakfast. Zuko was currently refusing to talk to Uncle and seemed to be avoiding talking with Kali as well. In fact, he hadn't said a word this morning so far. Kali didn't particularly care to talk to anyone right now but whenever Uncle said something, trying to lighten the mood, she at least acknowledged it in some way. Uncle had a terrible headache currently but was nonetheless attempting to be upbeat as they had nearly reached Ba Sing Se. Neither Zuko nor Kali visibly seemed to share his feelings.

After a little while, Zuko stood and stalked over to where Kali had been standing earlier at the front of the ship. Kali glanced after him and watched as Jet, who was also recovering from last night's partying, stood and approached him from behind. They stood beside each other for awhile, talking. What about, Kali wasn't sure and, at the moment, didn't really care too much.

XOXO

Sokka pointed at the wall to Ba Sing Se excitedly as they finally caught site of it.  
**  
"There's the wall! Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se!"**

Masami stared in awe. It was so huge she could see clouds around it. Then suddenly she heard a loud cry and looked down to see Ying collapse.

**"Oh no!"**

**"What's wrong?"** asked Sokka.

**"The baby's coming,"** said Ying urgently.

**"What? Now? Can't you hold it in or something?"**

**"Sokka, calm down,"** said Aang nervously.

Yang stepped forward.

**"Quickly, let's move to a more comfortable spot. We need some shade."**

**"Toph, can you make a big earth tent for them?"** asked Masami.

**"Sure,"** Toph replied, cracking her knuckles. She lifted her hands and created a huge tent. The little family hurried into it. Masami decided to take charge.

**"Aang, I need you to get some rags. Sokka, get some water. I'll help Yang."**

Not too much later, the baby was born. Masami was still feeling amused from the way Sokka had fainted when he'd entered the tent while the baby was being born. The excited couple cuddled close while Ying held the child in her arms. It was a cute little girl. Masami fawned over it as Sokka and Toph entered.

**"She sounds healthy,"** said Toph.

**"It's so...squishy looking,"** said Sokka skeptically.

Masami stumped over to the entrance of the tent to see Aang sitting outside.

**"C'mon Aang. Come meet her, she's so cute!"**

Aang followed her back in quietly. The couple were trying to decide what to name their baby. Masami looked over to see Aang's reaction and was distressed to see him crying.

**"Aang, what's wrong?"**

**"Nothing,"** he said, wiping away his tears and stepping forward to address the couple, **"I've been going through a hard time lately. But you've made me...hopeful again."**

The couple smiled.

**"I know what I want to name our baby now,"** said Ying, **"Hope."**

**"That's a perfect name,"** agreed Than, **"Hope."  
**  
Masami smiled. Seeing Aang so much happier and filled with hope made her feel happier and hopeful as well. It was good to see him back to normal. A little while later, she knelt on the ground and struggled to heal her side and arm a bit. She didn't remember much from the healing lessons she'd attended in the North Pole but she remembered a few basics. She focused hard, trying to bend the water the correct ways. It hurt slightly and she furrowed her brow with concentration. Eventually, she gave up, wondering if she'd made any difference at all. But, as she started to stand, she found she no longer needed the crutch. The pain was still there but it was greatly lessened and no longer bad enough to keep her from walking. She could also use her arm now, though she still couldn't twist it certain ways. She looked over at Aang as he joined her.

**"Hey your arm and side are better!"** he said happily, smiling.

**"A bit better anyway,"** Masami smiled back.

**"I wanted to thank you for what you said before, Masami. Last night. I thought I was trying to be strong but I was just running away from my feelings. Seeing that family together so filled with happiness reminded me of how I feel about Appa...and how I feel about you."**

He hugged her tightly. She hugged him back even more tightly then pulled back and shared a long kiss with him.

**"Alright, you two, break it up! Time to get moving again!"** called Sokka as he, Toph, Yang, and the family joined them. Masami turned and scowled at him for a moment. Aang let go of her.

**"I've made a decision. I need to go ahead now and find Appa. I'll find him as fast as I can. I just really need to do this."**

They all nodded after a moment as he and Momo prepared to fly.  
**  
"See ya in the big city,"** said Sokka.

**"Say hi to that big fuzzball for me,"** smiled Toph, punching Aang's arm.

**"I know you'll find him, Aang. Just be careful, okay?"** said Masami.

**"I will,"** he nodded to her before looking down at Momo, **"You ready Momo?"**

Momo chittered his assent and they took off. Masami and the others watched as they soared away into the distance toward the huge wall.

XOXO

Finally, thought Kali. The ferry had landed several hours ago. Just like the line for the tickets for the ferry, the line for the clearance to enter Ba Sing Se had been enormous and it had taken three hours to get to front of the line. An ugly, heavyset woman with a mole the size of Omashu on her face looked down at their passports then back up at them.  
**  
"So, Mr. Lee, Ms. Sofia, and Mr….um, Mushy, is it?"**  
**  
"It's pronounced Mushi,"** corrected Uncle.

**"You telling me how to do my job,"** she asked, obviously insulted.

**"Uh, no no no,"** replied Uncle, quickly, then turning on the charm, **"But may I just say you're like a flower in bloom, your beauty intoxicating."  
**  
More like a flower dying of a disease, thought Kali wryly, as Zuko covered his face with a hand, embarrassed.

**"Hmm, you're pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome,"** smiled the customs lady, making a catty sound and stamping their papers, **"Welcome to Ba Sing Se."**

**"I'm gonna forget I saw that,"** growled Zuko, snatching his paper from Uncle. Kali took them from him without saying a word but smiled at him slightly.

They found a place to sit while they waited for the trains to appear in the station. After a little while, Jet came over to them.

**"So, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?"**

A nearby tea vender called out that his tea was the finest in Ba Sing Se and Uncle responded instantly, asking for a jasmine. Kali looked back at Jet.

**"Nothing too big. Get a home and get jobs. What about you?"**

Uncle spat out his tea.

**"Ugh, COLDEST tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it! What a disgrace!"**

**"Well, first I need to find my girlfriend Katara and our friend Sneers. They got stuck on a different ferry from us. After that, well, that's what I wanted to talk to you guys about. You got a second?"**

Kali and Zuko exchanged glances then reluctantly followed Jet as he led a little ways away. Kali frowned. Hadn't she heard that name Katara somewhere?

**"You and we have a much better chance of making it in the city if we stick together. You want to join the Freedom Fighters?"  
**  
**"Thanks,"** replied Zuko, **"But I don't think you want us in your group."**

Kali nodded uneasily. That hadn't been the best way of putting it.

**"He's right. Thanks for the offer though."**

Jet looked at them puzzled.

**"Come on, we made a great team looting that captain's food. Think of all the good we could do for these refugees."**

**"I said no,"** replied Zuko shortly, leaving.

**"Maybe we'll see you around,"** said Kali passively, following him.

**"Have it your way,"** said Jet, watching them.

Kali looked at Uncle, surprised to see him smiling at his now steaming tea. Steaming? She looked back at Jet quickly to see if he'd noticed in time to see his look change from shocked to fierce. He walked away swiftly. Zuko had turned to look back also and, realizing what Uncle had done, he smacked the tea out of his hand.

**"Hey!"** cried Uncle in surprise.

**"What are you doing firebending your tea?"** growled Zuko lowly through gritted teeth, **"For a wise old man that was a pretty STUPID move!"**

**"He's right, Uncle. That was risky,"** said Kali as calmly as possible.

**"I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea," **said Uncle, sniffling**, "but it's just so sad."**

Kali turned and watched Jet storming away. He'd seen. She was sure of it now. Great.

**"Please don't do that again, Uncle. Or anything else like it."**

Hours later, when they finally boarded the train, Kali looked around worriedly and spotted Jet and his friends not too far away. With them now were two more people. Kali recognized her instantly. Katara. That was the name of the Water Tribe girl who'd traveled with the Avatar, Masami, and Sokka for a while. Sokka's sister. Really great. Now they were in trouble for sure if they ran into them again. She ushered Zuko and Uncle into the train quickly. As they sat down and Uncle played with a cute baby beside them, Kali couldn't stop thinking about what they'd ever do if they met Jet and Katara again. This was not good. It wasn't until they entered the city that her mind was temporarily put at ease as she was filled with awe at the sight of the Ba Sing Se in all its glory. It was, put simply, incredible.

XOXO

**A/N:** Well! We are finally into Ba Sing Se, I just feel I need to say thanks to all our readers, and Katie for most of the work on this chapter XD. We will be adding a bit into Ba Sing Se, into our own tales of Ba Sing Se, just wanted to give you a heads up, so, until next time, Flameo My Dear Hotmans!


	14. That looks tasty…

There was the wall, but the wall was being attacked. Aang knew he had to do something about it, they all did, though he wouldn't allow Masami to help from the inside. She waited outside, frantic and feeling useless as she just stood around, but, despite what Aang had told her, once she saw Sokka come out with a mass amount of….something, Masami ran over and saw that he was okay though he was being pursued. She started to bend the sludge and held it into the place Sokka had come out of. He was talking, but she couldn't hear him, her side was throbbing, but she didn't think about it, she focused on what she was doing.

And as soon as that had happened, the drill was disabled, and the group was finally allowed into the city.

Masami had heard stories about this place from the time she was a child, but she was very unsure of how much she really wanted to be here. Generally civilized society never went well with her, she never felt like she fit in; it was the orphan in her, she guessed, but then again there were many refugees in Ba Sing Se, so others may look like her, that thought did make her feel a bit better. The group made their way towards a massive set of tracks, and began to board the train,

"**I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece."** Aang spoke distantly.

**"Hey don't jinx it! We could still be attacked by some giant, exploding Fire Nation spoon. Or find out the city's been submerged in an ocean full of killer shrimp."** Sokka cried. Toph scoffed, sitting to Sokka's left as Masami and Aang sat on the other side of him.

"**You been hitting the cactus juice again?"** Toph asked. Sokka explained,

**"I'm just sayin', weird stuff happens to us."** Sokka elaborated. Masami nodded, looking over them as a shadow passed over them, and an extremely large man dropped between Masami and Sokka, making them jump as he glanced at them each, while sucking on an ear of corn.

**"That looks tasty…"** Masami said, trying to break the awkward air. He made a low grunting noise, yanked it from his mouth, handed it to her and stood up and toddled away. Masami twitched lightly, tossing the corn to Sokka, who bleched and dropped it to the ground. Masami looked over at Aang, who sighed sadly, as he looked out the window.

"**We will find Appa."** Masami assured him, touching his hand.

"**It's such a big city."** Aang said sadly,

**"He's a giant bison. Where could someone possibly hide him? Oh…"** Sokka started sarcastically, but was cut short by the sight out the window. The city was massive! Nothing but a mess of walls and more walls. They were now looking into the face of the inner walls of Ba Sing Se. The group pulled up into the monorail station, and everyone started to file out, whilst looking over the massively huge city that was Ba Sing Se.

_**"**_**Back in the city. Great."** Toph sighed,

**"What's the problem? It's amazing!"** Sokka exclaimed.

**"Just a bunch of walls and rules. You wait; you'll get sick of it in a couple of days."** Toph added. Aang stepped aside, and he looked over the walls, and he pulled Appa's whistle from his pocket, and he blew into it, his eyes holding a bit of hope, though there was no sign of Appa. Masami rubbed his shoulders lightly, and he looked up at her,

"**I'm comin' for you buddy. He's here. I can feel it."**

XOXO

Kali strolled hastily through the streets of Ba Sing Se, keeping an eye out for any sign of Jet and his gang as she did so. It was an enormous city. Enormous. Surely, they could manage to avoid them. She searched for Uncle and Zuko. They'd separated earlier, with Uncle searching for jobs while Kali and Zuko bought supplies with what little money they had. She scowled, thinking about the annoying official who'd showed them to their shabby little apartment earlier. The good thing had been that the apartment had been provided to them with the assurance that they could pay back the city at any time for it. Thankfully, it hadn't been a great debt. The apartment itself hadn't been too bad either, just small and obviously rather old. The official who'd showed them to it had been the bad part. She'd been a rather petite lady with short dark hair and a permanent smile plastered to her face. She'd introduced herself as Joo Dee, as Kali had noticed several other women officials had to the people nearby. She'd thought it rather strange. The woman had been terribly cheerful and painfully annoying. She hadn't answered any questions they'd asked about anything. They'd only asked a few but nonetheless they'd all been valid questions Kali'd wanted answers to. She'd even managed to irritate Uncle, which was saying something. Then, realizing they were refugees, she'd lurked in their apartment, asking probing questions. Eventually, Zuko'd exploded at her, which had scared her off fortunately.

Kali quickened her pace as she spotted Zuko not too far away.

**"Get everything?"** she asked.

He nodded curtly and they walked slowly through the marketplace. Suddenly, Uncle appeared on the other side of Zuko, smiling widely and holding flowers. Zuko gave him a nasty look.  
**  
"I only want our apartment to look nice in case one of you two brings home any 'friends',"** he winked, elbowing Zuko gently.

**"Uncle, aren't we engaged?"** asked Kali.

**"Ah, that is true,"** Uncle replied, stroking his beard, **"For some reason, I keep forgetting that."  
**  
**"Didn't seem to have any trouble remembering it on the ferry,"** stated Zuko icily, looking away.  
**  
"Well, if it really bothers you that much you can always call off the engagement,"** said Uncle sullenly.

**"It's not even a real engagement to begin with,"** hissed Zuko, **"And even if it were, I don't want to make a life here."**

**"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not. Now come on, I found us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon."**

**"Where are we working?"** asked Kali, glad for the change of subject.  
**  
"A tea shop of course!"**

XOXO

Masami and Aang turned back to the rest of the group as someone started to approach them. Masami got a look at the woman as she got closer, and she was rather attractive, though her happiness was unnerving.

**"Hello, my name is Joo Dee. I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka, Masami, and Toph. Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"** She said, smiling all the while. Masami glanced as Aang, and then to Sokka as he spoke.

**"Yes. We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King immediately."** Sokka said, stepping towards the woman, who's smile never faltered.

**"Great, let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it."** Masami was beginning to think she didn't want anything to do with his place and this crazy woman just needed to leave them well enough alone.

"**Augh! Maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the King about the war, it's important."** Sokka tried to explain to the woman.

**"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here."** She said with a weird note of finality. The group looked to each other, and then slowly moved after the fauxly cheery woman. They climbed into a cart that was pulled by an ostrich horse, and Joo Dee began their tour of the city.

_**"**_**This is the lower ring."** Joo Dee explained, motioning out the window.

**"What's the point of the wall?"** Masami asked, looked out the window and up at the walls around them, they were so tall, it seemed excessive.

**"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls. There are the ones outside protecting us, and the one's inside that help maintain order. This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsman and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively."** Joo Dee said with that same cheer. That wasn't a good thing at all! What was she smiling about? Masami looked out the window still, looking down lightly, and wincing as some men glare at them as they pass.

_**"**_**You **_**do**_** want to watch your step though."** Joo Dee tossed in.

"**Why are the poor so far from everyone else?" **Masami asked quietly.

**"This is why I never came here before. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live."** Aang sighed. The carriage rattled on with the tour continuing. The place they were entering was much cleaner.

"**This is the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, home to the financial district, shops and restaurants and the university."** Joo Dee told them next.

**"Yeah, we met a Professor from Ba Sing Se University. He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war that is **_**absolutely crucial for the King to hear**_**!"** Sokka tried again. Masami nodded, though she didn't like the mentions of that stupid professor, but anything that could maybe help this woman stop being so thick!  
**  
**_**"**_**Isn't history fascinating Look, here's one of the oldest buildings in the middle ring, Town Hall."** She said the carriage rattled to a stop. Joo Dee climbed out, and Sokka looked to the others with a look of bewilderment.

_**"**_**Is that woman deaf? She only seems to hear every other word I say."** Sokka admonished.

"**It's called "being handled". Get used to it."** Toph scoffed, crossing her arms. Masami and Aang both looked to Sokka for what to do, but before anything else could be said, Joo Dee came back and joined them again.

_**"**_**The Upper Ring is home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here."** They all loked up as they passed through another wall. Outside the wall, a group of shady men stood outside a building, locking their eyes on the group in a nasty fashion.

**"What's in there?" **Masami asked warily.

**"And who are the mean looking guys in robes?"** Sokka followed,

**"Inside is the Royal Palace. Those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions."** Masami looked out at them, barly hearing Aang asking about the King. Masami locked eyes with a regal looking woman who she could have sworn she'd seen before, but before she could get a really good look at her, she was gone.

**"Oh, no! One doesn't just **_**pop**_** in on the Earth King."** Joo Dee flourished as Masami looked back towards them. Everyone piled out of the cart as they reached a lovely house, the nicest Masami'd ever been told she was to be staying in.

_**"**_**Here we are. Your new home. More good news, your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about a month. Much more quickly than usual."** Joo Dee said like it was some form of good news.

**"A month!"** Sokka asserted.

**"Six to eight weeks, actually."** She added happily. The mention of Appa came up next, though Masami had no wish to go anywhere else for the day. As Sokka and Aang left with the insanely happy woman, Toph and Masami entered the spacious backyard of the house. Masami moved forward and knelt, putting Mushi into the pond in the back, he slunk away towards the bottom, and she tensed as she heard Toph speak,

"**Who are you, and what do you want?"**

XOXO

"**Well, you certainly look like official tea servers,"** smiled Pao, the owner of the tea shop, **"How do you feel?"**

**"Ridiculous,"** muttered Zuko.

**"Uh, does this possibly come in a larger size?"** asked Uncle, as he struggled to tie the string of the oven behind his back.

**"I have extra string in the back. Have some tea while you wait,"** said Pao, handing them cups before leaving.

Uncle and Kali took sips and both instantly drew back.

**"Eehhhooohhh! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!"** shouted Uncle angrily, looking disgusted.

**"Uncle, that's what all tea is,"** replied Zuko, sounding exasperated.

Kali nodded slightly, though of course there was much, much better hot leaf juice out there than this particular juice. This was terrible. Uncle looked offended.

**"How could a member of my own family say something soooo HORRIBLE? We'll have to make some changes around here,"** scowled Uncle, taking the teapot and hastily tossing the tea out the window.

Kali looked back to Pao coming out of the back room as Uncle returned from the window.

**"Here's your extra string,"** he said, handing it to Uncle, **"Did you enjoy your tea?"**

**"We're ready to start working now,"** replied Uncle, **"Right away."**

Zuko and Kali exchanged glances while Pao appeared pleased.

**"It's great to have such eager new employees!"**

XOXO

Toph stood her ground, and Masami stood slowly, she didn't know what to expect when she turned around, but she readied herself for a fight. Toph seemed to have the same idea, she had her stance readied for a fight. Then, there would be attacker showed herself. She was tall, long hair, gray eyes. She was shapely and confident; that much could be said from the way she stood. She smiled,

"**I am called Ariana, and I am no one to be feared, Toph; Masami."** She said, Toph tensed,

"**How do you know who we are?"** She asked, Ariana dodged the questions,

"**You are the Teachers of the Avatar." **She stated, crossing her arms.

"**What do you want?"** Masami asked, Ariana smiled,

"**I am here to ask your help. Ba Sing Se is not what it should be, for I, like you know of the outside, the fire nation, and all else. I am an advisor to the King; though am a refugee by birth, and I do not know what else to do. The Dai Li are holding him in the dark, and I dare not speak out against them. I fear them too much for that."** She explained. She sounded very frantic, fearful and pleading.

"**How can we trust you?"** Masami inquired, standoffishly.

"**She's telling the truth."** Toph added, **"I can feel it."** Masami looked down at her, and she nodded, Ariana looked relieved,

"**I knew those who traveled with the Avatar would be able to help me. Though, I fear I must go now. I have been gone too long, and they may suspect something. We will meet again."** She said, and as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone in a flash. Masami's brow furrowed,

"**This place is weird."**

"**Told you."** Toph added with a grin. Masami smiled back, and they could hear the carriage rattle up in the front. If that were the case, Masami feared they hadn't located Appa. She sighed,

"**They'll find him soon."** Toph added, sensing her sadness.

"**I hope you're right." **She added as they went back into the house.

"**So how was your trip?"** She asked, Sokka motioned with his thumb,

"**We have some paranoid neighbors."** He said gently, flopping down on the floor. Masami nodded,

"**We had a run in with a woman named Ariana, and she told us some slightly startling news."** She added, and began to explain it as was told to them.

XOXO

"**Would you like a pot of tea?"** called Uncle.

Kali was setting up the next room but she could still hear Zuko's reply.

**"We've been working in a tea shop all day,"** grumbled Zuko, **"I'm SICK OF TEA!"**

**"SICK OF TEA? That's like being sick of BREATHING!"** exclaimed Uncle.

**"I'll take a cup, Uncle!"** called Kali.

**"Excellent! Have you seen our spark rocks to heat up the water?"**

**"They should be next to the spices,"** replied Kali, as she stepped back to scan the room, satisfied it was set up properly. She stepped over to look out the window for a moment. Outside, there were several other apartments opposite theirs. She looked up at the sky and was startled to see a figure on top of the roof. She squinted to get a better look at the person as they leaned towards her. Her eyes widened as she recognized Jet and saw that he was looking right at their apartment. His eyes shifted and, meeting hers, widened as well and he stumbled back from his spot atop the roof, hastily disappearing into the night. She felt a chill run down her spine. Having enemies was one thing but knowing for a fact they were watching you and could be doing so at any moment made it even worse. She walked quietly into the main room, wishing they had curtains. They needed to get some as soon as they had more money she decided. Uncle came in through their main door. She hadn't even realized he'd left.

**"I borrowed our neighbors'. Such kind people,"** he said, striking the spark rocks together.

Kali sat down on the couch opposite Zuko, staring out the windows. She winced slightly as Uncle put a cup in her hands, having not even noticed him approach her.

**"Kali, is something wrong?"**

Kali glanced up at him then back at the window.

**"Thank you for the tea. I…think we're being watched."**

**"What?"** responded Zuko, jolting up abruptly from the couch.

**"Not right now. But we were a moment ago."  
**  
**"By who?"** asked Uncle worriedly.  
**  
"Jet,"** she replied shortly.

Zuko furrowed his brow and clenched his teeth, looking out the window angrily.

**"I think he must have figured out you're a firebender, Uncle."**

Zuko scowled at Uncle and stormed off into the room he and Kali were sharing. Uncle sat down next to Kali, lost in thought. After a few moments, he looked up.

**"We need to get some curtains."**

XOXO

the next morning came without much of a thought. Masami crawled out of the bed she'd been sharing with Aang, and he opened his eyes lazily. She smiled, leaned back towards him, kissed his head, and he closed his eyes again. She slipped into the bathroom, and began to shower. She was soon walking out into the front of the house, and she actually felt much better today. She was surprised, her injuries weren't bothering her nearly as badly as the day before. She figured that was a good sign, and she slowly walked out onto their porch, and there was a paper. She thumbed through it, and brought it back in the house.

Everyone was starting to wake now, and she sat, reading the paper as the boys and Toph ate. She looked up excitedly after a second,

**"I know how we're gonna see the Earth King!" **She declared.

**"How are we supposed to do that "One doesn't just **_**pop**_** in on the Earth King"!"** Toph scoffed, mocking Joo Dee. Masami smirked,

"**The King is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear."** Masami started,

**"You mean Platypus-Bear?"** Aang asked, cocking his head to the side.

**"No, it just says "Bear"."** Masami added, looking over the paper, to see if she'd misread it.

**"Certainly you mean his pet Skunk-Bear."** Sokka assured, also looked at the paper.

**"Or his Armadillo-Bear."** Toph interjected.

**"Gopher-Bear?"** Aang asked again, perplexed.

**"Just…"Bear".** " Masami shrugged,

**"This place is weird."** Toph said, shoveling more food in her mouth.

**"The palace will be packed. We can sneak in with the crowd."** Sokka said, taking the paper from Masami.

"**Won't work."** Toph said, flopping over after leaving the table.

**"Why not?"** Sokka asked defensively,

**"Well, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you from a mile away. You've got no manners."** Toph said, through a mouthful of food.

_**"**_**Excuse me? I've got no manners? You're not exactly lady fancy fingers."** Sokka said, waving his arms around. Masami rolled her eyes. Toph did have a bit of a point there.

_**"**_**I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it. You never learned anything. And frankly, it's a little too late."** Toph reiterated, tossing the rest of the food in her mouth.

_**"**_**Ah-Ha, but you learned it. You could teach us."** Sokka started again. He wouldn't let this go would he?

**"Yeah, I'm mastering every element. How hard could manners be? Good evening, Mr. Sokka Watertribe. Ms. Masami of Kyoshi. Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty, your Momo-ness."** Aang said, grabbing a blanket to throw around his shoulders, Masami giggled, rolling her eyes. Momo looked up from under the carpet he'd been hiding under as Sokka grabbed another blanket and tossed it about his shoulders.

_**"**_**Avatar Aang, how you **_**do**_** go on?"** Sokka cried, in a very stereotypically snobbish voice. Aang then bowed before Sokka, who returned the bow. This then turned into a bit of a contest, until the boys ended up smacking head sna falling over onto the floor.

_**"**_**Ow!"** Aang said, rubbing his head.

"**Masami might be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as busboys."** Toph said with a snort.

**"But I feel so fancy."** Sokka whined. Masami and Toph decided they would do their best to sneak in. Masami wasn't as beyond help as the boys it seemed, so she and Toph made their way into town, and began searching for outfits for that night. Masami and Toph didn't have to look far, before they found a dress shop happy to cater to the Masters of the Avatar. Masami did like that for the most part, this place had regard for the Avatar, that was more like being at home on Kyoshi.

Then as they returned home, she and Toph set of to get ready, moving out of Toph's room as they were, from the hallway, Masami could see Aang and Sokka playing a game on the floor.

_**"**_**Earth!"** Aang cried, flicking Sokka in the head.

**"Fire! Augh! Ooh!"** Sokka grumbled, looking up as the females entered the room. Aang smiled doofily, looking over his girlfriend and his Earth Bending teacher. The girls had their hair up differently then usual, and had on make up. Masami and Toph stood quietly behind the fans they held for a second, then gave up the arrogant air and began to laugh.  
**  
**_**"**_**Wow, you look beautiful."** Aang sighed happily, before being jolted back to reality when Sokka flicked him in the forehead. Masami started to speak, when Toph stopped her,

_**"**_**Don't talk to the commoners, Masami. First rule of society."** Toph said with a serious expression.

**"We'll get in the party, and then find a way to let you in through the side gate."** Toph told them, still baring Masami from speaking as they left. Masami waved, smiled, and was off after Toph.

XOXO

Kali woke the next morning huddled close to Zuko, one of his arms draped over her lazily. She sleepily closed her eyes again for a moment, not really thinking about it and shifting slightly closer for a moment. It was still night and the room was surprisingly cool, even a bit chilly. It felt good having someone else's warm body right there next to hers. After a few minutes though, she decided she needed to get up. They had to be at the tea shop in an hour or so to open it up. They were scheduled to both open and close, so it was going to be a long day. She looked back at Zuko to make sure she hadn't disturbed him but he just shifted in his sleep and mumbled something that sounded like flying lemur cakes. Whatever.

A half hour later, after getting dressed and preparing some breakfast, she returned to the room. Uncle was already up and dressed as well but Zuko hadn't gotten up yet. Tentatively, she called his name and shook him a little. He jolted up, taking a fighting stance as he rose and striking her squarely in the chest, knocking her into the wall. She sunk to the ground groaning as he looked around, confused for a moment.

**"Ow."** She grimaced and looked up as he hurried over to her.  
**  
"You okay?"** he asked, as he helped her stand.  
**  
"That…was a very violent reaction to being woken up."**

**"What? I did-?...oh, sorry about that."**

"It's okay, I guess. Next time, I'll remember to dodge. Anyway, it'll be time to go to the tea shop soon. You'd better get dressed and eat fast."

As she came back out of the room, still rubbing her chest gingerly, Uncle looked up at her.

**"What was that loud noise a moment ago?"**

**"Zuko sleep-fighting."**

**"Oh…"**

That night, Kali and Zuko wearily served tea while Uncle seemed to still be full of energy.

**"This is the best tea in the city,"** complimented an officer of the city's police force.

**"The secret ingredient is loooove,"** grinned Uncle, flourishing his teapot a bit and waving a hand for emphasis.

Kali glanced at Zuko who watched Uncle with a somewhat stunned/mortified look on his face as he toddled about the shop cheerfully. Kali smirked tiredly. She was still concerned about Jet and his gang, but at the moment, she was more focused on just getting home and resting. They'd bought curtains during their lunch break earlier so at least she could put those up to give them some privacy.

**"I think you're due for a raise,"** smiled Pao, patting Uncle's shoulder. That's great, thought Kali, then suddenly, the doors burst open.

**"I'm tired of waiting,"** declared a familiar voice, as Jet stalked in, a determined look on his face, **"Those three people are firebenders!"**

He pointed at Kali, Zuko, and Uncle, who exchanged worried looks. What now?

XOXO

The walk through a city could have been a very lovely for a use of an evening, but Masami was slightly nervous. The girls climbed into line, and they soon got to the front, there was a gruff looking man at the front,  
**  
****"Invitation please."** He snapped, Toph lifted the seal of her family towards his face,

**"I think this will do."** She said, though he didn't seem to like that.

_**"**_**No entry without an invitation. Step out of line please."** The man snapped.

_**"**_**Look, the Pangs and the Yum Soon Hans are waiting in there for us. I'm going to have to tell them who didn't let me in."** She spat back,

**"Step out of line please."** He said, unyieldingly. Masami and Toph walked out of line, and Masami looked up as a carriage rolled up, and then a well dressed male climbed out of the carriage. Guards bowed to him, and Masami smiled lightly and she pulled Toph with her as she approached the man.

_**"**_**Sir? I'm sorry to bother you, but my cousin lost our invitations.**_**"**_She leaned towards the man, covering her mouth, motioning towards Toph, **"She's blind. Do you think you could help us? Our family's inside and I'm sure they're very worried."**

_**"**_**I am honored, please come with me."** The man said with a bow. She was happy he would help them. They followed the man inside, and made faces to the palace guards back.

_**"**_**Nyah! Pssfft!"** They whispered, blowing raspberries in his direction. The inside of the place was massive! Masami had never seen a place like this. She didn't know what to make of it.

**"****It's beautiful, isn't it? By the way, I'm Long Feng. I'm a cultural minister to the king."** The man introduced himself politely,

**"I'm Kwa mai, and this is Dung. Ow!"** Masami hissed as Toph pulled her hair over the name she'd been given.

"**Now where is your family? I'd love to meet them."** He asked, Masami looked around, and she spied someone who looked very familiar, and she pointed happily,

"**That's our cousin right there."** She made to move towards a girl's back,

"**Cousin Emi!"** She said happily, touching her shoulder. Emi turned around, surprised,

"**Oh…it's been a while…Good to see you."** She said warily towards them, looking at the strange man. Masami turned towards the man, as he smiled down at them. She smiled, and bowed lowly to him,

"**Thank you for your help Sir, we really appreciate it."** She said as she stood, and she smiled as he bowed back lightly, and walked off. Masami exhaled as he did,

"**What are you two doing here?"** Emi asked, looking them over, Masami looked to Toph, and she began to explain what they were doing here, and Emi seemed shocked,

"**The woman's name was Ariana and she told you all of that?"** Emi seemed shocked,

"**Yep, that's the jist of it."** Toph said with a shrug. Emi seemed floored,

"**So…where's Aang and Sokka?"** She asked lowly. Masami smiled,

"**He and Aang should be outside, and we need to go let them in, would you like to come?"** Masami asked with a smirk.

"**I uh…sure, why not?"** She couldn't think of an excuse not to, so all the girls began to creep back towards the doors on the side of the palace.

XOXO

"**I know they're firebenders! I saw the old man heating his tea!"** shouted Jet.

**"He works in a tea shop,"** replied the officer Uncle had served a moment before, obviously irritated.

As Jet advanced on them, a girl appeared behind him. It was Katara.

**"Jet, calm down,"** she cried, grabbing his arm, then suddenly stopped as she looked up to see who it was he was accusing.

**"You!"** she shouted, taking a fighting stance alongside Jet.

Seeing Zuko look as though he were ready to strike a firebending stance, Kali moved fast, grabbing his shoulder. He paused to look over and she stared at him fiercely.  
**  
"Don't try to fight them,"** she said quietly, **"Let the police handle this, they're here already after all."  
**  
**"They're firebenders, I'm telling you!"** shouted Jet, still advancing on them.

**"Not only that,"** snapped Katara angrily, pointing at Zuko, "**He's the prince of the fire nation who's been hunting the Avatar!"  
**  
Oh no, thought Kali.

**"That's ridiculous!"** snapped another officer, **"Why would a prince be working in a tea shop?"  
**  
A good question.

Jet stopped his advances for a moment and simply glared at them.

**"You'll have to defend yourselves. Then everyone will know we're telling the truth. C'mon, show us all what you can do."**

As the police officers stood, Kali felt a moment of hope. Maybe the police could just take care of this? Then again, what if Jet and Katara were too much for them? In the end, of course, it didn't matter, thanks to Zuko.

**"You want a show,"** growled Zuko, grabbing swords from the nearest officer, **"I'll give you a show."**

XOXO

The girls didn't have to let the boys in, as it turned out, they had been able to sneak in themselves. Masami could spot Aang a mile away, and she could tell Sokka was near by. They looked like they were a bit off, confused, and not quite sure where the girls were. Masami nudged Emi and pointed towards a group of confused busboys. Emi cracked a smile, and the group made their way over towards them.

"**Where are they?"** Sokka could be heard saying. Toph walked up to him, grabbing a piece of food off his tray.

"**You found us."** Aang said happily as the rest of them joined Toph.

**"I'd know your little footsteps anywhere Twinkletoes."** Toph smirked. Sokka smiled at them lightly, and then looked up,  
**  
****"Emi?"** He asked, nearly dropping his tray,

"**Hello Sokka…"** She said sadly with a smile,

"**Time to catch up later, we have company."** Masami whispered, as Joo Dee started to move towards them. Masami straightened herself, and she braced herself for an oh-so-cheerful encounter.

**"****What are you doing here? You have to leave immediately, or we'll all be in terrible trouble."** Joo Dee whispered to them, and tried to push Sokka out of the way.  
**  
**_**"**_**Not until we see the King."** Sokka said, pulling away from her.

**"You don't understand. You must go."** She said urgently, shoving Sokka. Sokka slammed into Aang, and Aang lost the contents of his pitcher all over a woman near by.

_**"**_**Aarrhhh! Oh!"** The woman cried. Aang paniced,

**"Sorry! No, don't shout."** Aang cried, lifting his foot and arms to airbend the woman dry. His hat flew off and Momo flew away as well. The woman'a hair stood straight back, and her make up was a mess. Aang smiled lightly, scratching the back of his head.

_**"**_**The Avatar. Ooh, I didn't known the **_**Avatar**_** would be here."** The woman said excited. The party then started to turn towards Aang, and then the next thing Masami knew, she was blindfolded and being dragged away, her mouth covered. Her heart began to thunder in her chest, ands he didn't know what was to come next.

XOXO

Zuko shoved a table at Jet with his foot but Jet sliced through it. Zuko jumped on a table, keeping balance as Jet sliced it apart beneath him, then forced Jet back a bit. Kali looked back to see Katara open her waterskin and whip out the water, headed for Zuko as well. Knowing she had to do something, she jumped behind another table and kicked against it hard, shoving it into Katara and catching her by surprise. She felt bad, knowing Katara and Jet were actually telling the truth and probably both friends of Aang and possibly Masami. They couldn't have them revealing them though and she worried Zuko would do the same thing he'd done back while they'd been traveling without Uncle if pushed too much. Katara groaned and sent a sharp disc of water flying at her. Kali dodged it, diving behind another table and flipping herself forward to continue running, as more water discs flew by her. People near her shrieked and hid beneath tables and behind chairs. Pao appeared to be having a seizure of some kind at the sight of his tea shop being wrecked. Kali landed ultimately beside the officer who still had his swords. He was staring in disbelief at Jet, Zuko, and Katara.

**"Hi there,"** she said, as he looked at her, **"Mind if I borrow these, please?"**

She grabbed his swords as he drew back slightly.

**"Thanks!"**

She wasn't sure how much help swords were against water but whatever. If she had to fight Jet, they'd help. She jumped over the table and kicked Jet from behind on her way towards Katara. He grunted and was temporarily caught off balance. He backed up, losing ground, then regained balance with Katara's assistance. Zuko and Kali advanced on them, meaning to drive them out of the shop. Katara sent a whip of water toward their legs. They leapt over it, then Jet leapt onto a table and spun through the air towards Zuko, knocking him back as Kali jumped aside. She pushed Katara back a bit, evading her water and advancing simultaneously, brandishing the swords. She was distracted however as Zuko went flying backwards through the door, breaking it down and landing in a defensive position to block Jet's oncoming attack. Katara, taking advantage of her distraction, whipped her in the face and sent her sprawling into a table. Katara and Kali both raced outside after the boys.

XOXO

Masami was left in the Library, or what appeared to be a library. She looked around, decently afraid to be alone, but she wasn't for long. Her friends were all left in there one by one along side her. She swallowed, and she heard chittering as Momo flew around and landed on her, she held the lemur close to her chest as the man who had helped them in sat menacingly at a table.

**"What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It's **_**my**_** job to oversea the rest of the city's resources, including the military."** He said.

**"So the King is just a figurehead."** Emi mused, holding Sokka's arm.

_**"**_**He's your puppet!"** Toph snapped.

**"Oh, no, no! His majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly change of an endless war."** Long Feng argued.

**"But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead an invasion…"** Sokka started, but was cut short.

_**"**_**Enough, I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan!****It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls. Constant news of an escalating war will throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic."** The man boomed. Masami knew this was all wrong, but before anything else could be said, he started again,

"**Our economy would be ruined. Our peaceful way of life, our traditions would disappear. In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia. The last one on Earth."** Long Feng stated, almost smugly.

"**I'll tell them. I'll make sure everyone knows!"** Aang growled in defiance.

**"Until now, you've been treated as our honored guest.****But from now on, you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the war to anyone, you will be expelled from the city.****I understand you've been looking for your bison. It would be quite a shame if you were not able to complete your quest.****Now Joo Dee will show you home."** He said, first bending to face Aang; whose face shown hatred Masami had never seen. The man then walked away, and didn't return his gaze to them. Masami touched Aang shoulder lightly, and the doors opened behind them, and they all started to leave.

_**"**_**Come with me, please."** A woman said.

**"What happened to Joo Dee?"** Sokka asked suddenly. Masami's eyes looked up, this woman's hair was shorter, but she had that same chipper air that made Masami want to spit.

_**"**_** I'm Joo Dee. I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city."** That line alone made Masami's stomach drop.

_XOXO_

Kali chased Katara away from the boys, blocking her from aiding Jet. She heard Uncle call after them all to please stop fighting but no one heeded him. Meanwhile, she could hear Jet taunting Zuko, trying to get him to bend. She worried that if he kept it up, Zuko would oblige him, but Zuko seemed to be holding his own well. Unfortunately for Kali, she'd just backed Katara up against a well. She heard the sound of rushing water as Katara took advantage of her new fuel and flung a huge stream of water at Kali. Kali attempted to get out of the way but was soon drenched and lying on the ground. She recovered quickly and ran around Katara, who lashed out at her again with the stream. Kali dove to avoid it and rolled to keep running, trying to decide how best to get Katara away from the water. Finally, she decided she just needed to get her off the well. Easier said than done.

She jumped on top of a barrel and from the barrel managed to launch herself to the top of a house. Katara shot thin spikes of ice at her, trying to knock her off the roof while still conserving her water. Kali rushed towards where Jet and Zuko were fighting. Each had only one sword now and they were both at each others' throats at the moment. She needed a distraction, something to catch Katara off guard. Much as she disliked doing this, she caught Katara's eye to make sure she was paying attention and flung a sword toward Jet. She hoped Katara stopped the sword in time. As Katara moved to protect Jet, blocking the sword with a stream, Kali took a running leap and pounced on her from above. They feel painfully from the well, Katara clawing at her while Kali struggled to gain a good grip on her arms to prevent her from bending. She had no desire to threaten her with a sword to the neck and wound up dropping the sword as they tumbled across the ground. Kali managed to pin her arms to the ground only to get kicked between the legs painfully. It made her thankful not to be a guy, though it still hurt. Katara's knee jabbed into her boobs, reminding her of a reason she sometimes didn't like being a girl so much. She kept Katara pressed to the ground and tried to shift a leg so as to block any more kicking or kneeing. Both of them looked up as Jet and Zuko stood beside them now, still facing each other.  
A crowd had formed around them by now but it parted as two men in dark green official looking robes appeared. Jet backed towards them and pointed at Zuko, Uncle, and Kali.

**"Arrest them! They're firebenders!"**

**"This poor boy is confused,"** said Uncle, **"We're just simple refugees."**

**"This young man and that girl wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees,"** shouted Pao angrily, gesturing at Jet and Katara.

**"It's true sir,"** put in one of the officers, "**We saw the whole thing. These crazy kids attacked the finest tea maker in the city!"**

**"Oooh, that's very sweet,"** said Uncle, blushing.

The officials, who Kali remembered now were called the Dai Li, stepped forward and grabbed Jet, as he struck out at them. Katara shouted.  
**  
"No wait! Jet! Please, it's true! You have to believe us! They're the prince of the Fire Nation, the Dragon of the West, and their cook! Jet!"**

The Dai Li shoved Jet into the back of a cart then returned for Katara. Kali had let her up at this point, not sure what to make of the Dai Li, and Katara backed away as they approached, frightened. She tried to escape but was quickly caught, shackled with rocks, and pushed into the cart with Jet. Kali watched as they disappeared, worried about Katara and Jet. What was going to happen to them? She looked over at Zuko as he approached and stood next to her, also looking uncertain. Uncle joined them and the two officers came over to them. Kali hastily picked up the swords she'd borrowed and handed them back to the man she'd borrowed them from, thanking him. Zuko returned his as well. After a few moments, they returned to the tea shop, where Pao was freaking out. Begrudgingly, they began helping him sort out the mess. Cleaning up and closing tonight would be a long experience.

XOXO

**A/N:** Alright! Another chapter bites the dust. I have to say that the next 2 chapters will be a bit different, my co-author is in Greece at the moment, so to keep the ball rolling, the next two chapters will be Tales of Ba Sing Se; the difference is they will each be written separately. Zuko and his crew get their own chapter, as do the Gaang. Sound good? I hope so!

And as usual, thanks for reading, and we look forward to getting more chapters up for you soon! :] Until next time,

Flameo My Dear Hotmans!


	15. I'll paddle yours too!

**A/N:** Hello all! Unlike in the series on TV, most will have more then one tale, just as a heads up.:]

XOXO

The Tale of Masami

Masami hadn't known what to think of this city at first. She knew they needed to get out of here, but she didn't know she could do to help them move towards getting out of here. As she lay reclined about the back yard of the house, Momo crawling on the rocks Masami leaned on. She could hear him messing with Mushi in the water, and chittering as Mushi stuck to him, Momo jumped over her head, and landed in her lap, rubbing his paw. She rolled her eyes at him, and he looked up at her, making a face,

"**I told you not to mess with him."** She told the lemur. He didn't seem to hear her, and he hopped back up on the rock, messing with the pentapus again. Masami decided it was best just to let the lemur do as he saw fit, and she pulled her knees up to her chin, and she began to think about things. Her mind mulled over how she'd gotten to this point, where her sister was, whom her sister was with now; she was saddened by her thoughts. Masami sighed, and she could remember time after time how her sister had always been there, and now she was nowhere near her. Why had they gotten split up? Really, if she thought about it, it was her fault, but she didn't want to think about it that way.

"_**Masami!"**__ She heard the kids behind her call. She didn't want to stop, _

"_**They're talking to you."**__ Kali pressed, she shook her head,_

"_**Let them, they're just going to splash water on me, and laugh about it."**__ She said morosely. Kali gave her a look of something, pity a bit, but there was something else to it. _

"_**You don't really think they would do that, do you?"**__ She asked, Masami nodded bitterly. _

"_**I know they would."**__ She crossed her arms lightly, Kali sighed, and she could hear the other kids continue to yell. She turned around, and she walked off, leaving Masami alone. She didn't turn around until she heard someone start yelling. Kali was yelling at the other kids…in defense of her. She didn't know why Kali cared so much, she was always so nice to her, and she didn't understand it. Masami watched as she walked back up to her, _

"_**Why do you care so much?"**__ She asked, almost suspiciously. Kali smiled sadly, dropping her face to the ground._

"_**It's what family is for, right?"**__ Kali answered quietly. Masami thought she heard wrong, _

"_**What?"**__ She asked, _

"_**It's what family is for, isn't it?"**__ Kali asked her. Masami was terribly confused,_

"_**Family? I guess so, but why do you help me?"**__ She asked, her head cocked to the side. Kali sighed,_

"_**That…..Our dad is the same man…I hate to be the one to tell you that, but he was with my mother while he was at war; then there was me…"**__ She explained, seemingly expecting rejection. Masami drummed her fingers against her mouth, and she smiled, _

"_**You know, I always thought family was just there to hurt me. But you're my best friend…really the only friend I've ever had, and I know now family isn't all bad…in fact…I guess I sorta like family."**__ She said happily. Kali looked stunned. _

"_**You…don't hate me for that?"**_

"_**Course not!" **__Masami giggled, __**"I know now I'm not alone. I'm not stupid, I know Pappi isn't well, he won't last forever, and then I knew I would have been alone, but now? I never have to be alone again!"**__ She smiled widely at Kali, who smiled back._

The memory made tears prick behind Masami's eyes.

"**We were always there for each other…. but where are you now?"** She whispered to the wind, her voice being swiftly carried away.__

XOXO

The Tale of Sokka

The night was young, Sokka was bored, and he wanted to see Emi again. She had taken off right after they had gotten released from the library. She seemed so startled, he wouldn't be surprised if he never saw her again, it'd be just his luck. His attention diverted towards a building he saw a light coming from.

"**What's ****this?"** He wondered out loud. He wandered towards a window, and he could see a group of girls in a room, all beautifully dressed with a teacher sitting at the front. They were reciting poetry,

_**"**_**Through all the long night, winter moon glows with bright love, sleet her silver tears."** A girl finished on stage.

**"Ahh, poetry."** Sokka said dreamily, until he was kicked from behind, falling into the window.  
**  
**_**"**_**Oooh!"** Sokka cried, landing on his hands inside the window. The girls all gasp, and he laughs awkwardly.

_**"**_**I am so sorry. Something struck me in the rear. I just… wound up… here?"** He started, then realized he'd made a Haiku when the students began to laugh. He smiled lightly, and pulled himself into the window. The teacher then stood,

"**Five seven then five, syllables mark a Haiku, remarkable oaf. "** The teacher said with a snippy retort.

_**"**_**They call me Sokka, that is in the water tribe,**__**I am not an oaf."** He said, counting the last 5 syllables on his fingers.

_**"**_**Chittering monkey, in the spring he climbs treetops, and thinks himself tall."** The teacher snapped back.

**"Ooooh."** The students whispered.

**"You think you're so smart, with your fancy little words, this is not so hard."** Sokka replied arrogantly,

**"Ooooh!"** They whispered louder this time.

**"Whole seasons are spent mastering the form, they style, none calls it easy!"** The teacher stated, almost offended.

**"****I calls it easy! Like I paddle my canoe, I'll paddle yours too!"** Sokka mocked, smacking his butt towards the teacher. The students began to laugh.

"**There's nuts and there's fruits,**_**)**_** in fall the clinging plumb drops, always to be squashed."** She responded, pulling a plum from her sleeve, stepping on it.

"**Squish-squash, sling that slang. I'm always right back at ya, like my… boomerang!"** Sokka cried enthusiastically, making the woman back off and leave the stage.

**"****That's right I'm Sokka, it's pronounced with an "okka"….Emi?"** He cried in the middle of his poem. Emi smiled lightly, waving from the back row. A man stepped out of the crowd, and tossed Sokka out with a thud. He rolled over as someone followed him out, he leaned up, and Emi stood above him. She smiled lightly, and she leaned down, kissed his cheek, and handed him a small slip of paper. There was an address written on it. She waved once again, and darted back into the hall. He smiled happily,

"**Poetry."** He sighed contentedly.

XOXO

The Tale of Masami and Toph

Masami awoke one morning, seeing Aang had left early that morning. She assumed he'd gone to look for Appa. She did hope they found him soon, she hadn't realized how much she'd missed Appa. She sighed, and she went to get herself ready for the day. She felt like she'd been lazy, since she had done next to nothing since she'd been here. She stretched and wandered into the other room, greeted by a lonely Toph. She smiled and sat nearby.

"**Good morning." **She said, Toph smiled, having heard her sit.

"**Hi."** She said. Masami noticed she seemed very anxious,

"**Something wrong?"** She asked, Toph looked up,

"**Why?"** She asked, looking down again,

"**You seem anxious."**

"**Just bored."** Toph added, Masami was sort of glad to hear her say that.

"**Wanna spar or something? I feel lazy."** She smirked. Toph smiled, and nodded slowly. Half an hour later, the girls stood facing each other, looking amused, though neither wanted to strike first. Masami knew if she struck first, Toph would know it. She glanced up, and she could see trees above Toph's head. She'd never thought she'd think of plant bending, but she didn't have time to consider it now, as Toph sent rocks hurdling towards her when she was off guard.

She brought water up in front of her and she froze it. She felt the ice shatter, but she was able to unfreeze the shards, pull them back together and used it to throw back the rock over her head. She heard the rock smash behind her. She smirked, and whipped the water behind her back, then bent her knees and sent the water hurling towards Toph. Toph stomped, pulled her arms parallel to the ground, and pulled her left hand in a diagonal motion, a barrier blocking the water. The water splashed to the ground. Masami lifted it again, and she readied herself.

Toph moved her left hand back, lifted her hands together, stomped, and sent the rock barrier heading for Masami. Masami tossed the water behind her, froze it, and let herself slide around it, just missing the rock. The former barrier slammed into the ice, cracking it loudly. Masami was able to land behind Toph, but Toph knew she was there and Masami knew it.

Masami was running out of options. They were evenly matched at this point, merely exchanging warning blows. She wanted to gain the upper hand, but she couldn't figure out how. It was quite obvious that Toph was a much better bender then she was, but she was getting there, and she wanted this to be a victory for herself.

She glanced up again, and she could still see the trees. She moved her arms as slowly as she could, and she could see the trees move lightly. She pulled her hands back towards herself, and tried a move similar to creating a water whip, though she moved slower then she would for a water whip; her arms folded in, her foot slid out, and she pushed her arms in the same direction her outstretched foot. The trees began to sway, coming down towards the ground, until the ground beneath them shook a bit, and both girls lost their footing, but began to prepare themselves for a fight.

Before they knew what had happened, Ariana had made an appearance. She leaned against a rock she'd created from nowhere, and she smirked at them. Masami dropped her guard,

"**Need something?"** She asked flatly.

"The Dai Lee aren't looking forward to you seeing the Earth King. As a matter of fact, they're trying to keep it from happening. I'm pulling for you as much as I can, but I can only do so much."

"**Meaning?" **Toph asked,

"Either watch your backs and be good,-"

"**Or?"** Toph finished.

"**Or, make your own way to see him and beware the Dai Lee."** Masami turned for a second, thinking she heard something in the house, only to see Ariana was gone. Toph couldn't sense her anymore, and they were both left in silence. They no longer felt the need to duel, so they just went inside.

They sat at the table and they weren't sure what to think of this.

"**Should we believe her?"** Toph asked,

"**Do we have any choice?"** Masami asked. Toph nodded, but before anything else could be said, Aang walked in, and carried a pair of pants with him; not only pants, but also an apron and a shirt. He looked exhausted. Masami and Toph started to talk to him, but he made straight for he and Masami's room and closed the door. They watched him, or Masami did, while Toph stared in his direction.

"**We'll tell him tomorrow."** Masami said, Toph nodded, and the conversation was gone for the time being, but not forgotten in the slightest.

XOXO

The Tale Of Sokka and Emi

Sokka bumbled along through the streets; unsure whether he'd found the address written neatly on the slip of paper yet or not. Without a map, he'd managed to get lost twice already. He sighed. Seemed his instincts weren't guiding him very well today. Not to be undeterred, however, he continued along down the street, sure that this time he'd gotten it right. After the second time of getting lost, he'd begrudgingly asked directions, assuring the man who'd assisted him that it wasn't that he couldn't find his way there by himself, he just wanted a second opinion as to the fastest way there. He gasped slightly as he finally found himself in front of the correct house. He was standing in front of a mansion. A mansion! Where had Emi said she was from again? She'd run away from an inn where she'd lived with her…stepcousin?…or her uncle? Or was it her grandfather? He couldn't remember but who cared? The point was, she was living in a mansion now! Then again, he thought to himself, as he pondered how best to gain access to her, he was living in the wealthy part of Ba Sing Se too. They had a pretty damn good place themselves! He decided against sneaking through a back window and went for the direct approach, walking through the gates up to the front door and rapping loudly on it. When no one came to answer it after a few seconds, he rapped again, louder this time and was startled as the door opened and he found himself knocking on an unhappy looking butler's face.

**"Can I help you?"** asked the butler, sounding annoyed.

**"Uh, is Emi home? I'd like to see her…please."**

"Mistress Emi didn't mention any visitors this morning."

**"Err, well, I sort of just decided to drop by. She gave me this address a few days ago,"** he held out the slip of paper, hoping it would be sufficient proof of his legitimacy. The butler took it then glanced down at him with an air of distaste.

**"Very well. I will notify Mistress Emi of your arrival. What did you say your name was?"** he asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

**"Uhhh, Sokka."**

Sokka scratched his head uneasily as he watched the butler disappear inside the huge mansion, shutting the door tightly behind him. A few minutes later, he heard a scuffling sound and protests from the butler and the door opened and shut quickly. To his relief, it was Emi, who pulled him quickly down the path away from the huge house, all smiles. He followed, trying to understand why they were hurrying away. They stopped a little ways away from the mansion, Emi breathing heavily from running. Sokka looked down at her and blushed slightly. She looked…beautiful! Like a princess practically! He hadn't seen a sight so beautiful since…since Yue, he thought, sighing inwardly at the thought of the princess-turned-moon-spirit. She was dressed in a long flowy fancy pinkish dress and her hair was held in place with a pretty bow, her bangs drifting down in front of her face, accenting its prettiness. He didn't know what to say so he just stood there trying to get his brain to work again. Emi looked up at him, having caught her breath.

**"It's…good to see you again, Sokka,"** she said, a bit nervously. Sokka recovered his capacity for speech somewhat.

**"It's…good to see you too, Emi," he sputtered, "I…I was worried I wouldn't get to see you again for a while…I missed you."**

She looked away shyly.

**"I missed you too."**

She frowned and Sokka frowned as well.

**"So, what happened back there on the Serpent's Pass? I…I wanted to ask you something after our first night there and when I looked for you…you were gone."**

Emi continued to look away, chewing on her lip. After a few moments of silence between them, she spoke in a small voice.

**"I…thought you didn't want me."**

"What?"  
**  
"I saw you kiss Suki that night and I figured you didn't want me around anymore because you were with her so I left!"** she blurted out, tears starting to form in her eyes. Sokka stared at her stunned, horrified at the idea of her misinterpreting so badly what had happened that night.

**"No no!"** he waved his arms emphatically, **"That's not what happened that night! Honest, Emi!"  
**  
Emi looked at him through her tears. He went into logical explanation mode.

**"You see, Suki kissed me and I started to kiss her back but then I stopped because I thought of you and basically, I explained to her that I couldn't see her anymore because I wanted to be with you and she said we could just stay friends unless I changed my mind and then-ANYWAY, the point is, I wanted to be with you…and I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend, y'know, officially, and then you were gone…"**

They stared at each other for a moment and Sokka worried she wouldn't believe him. Then suddenly she ran forward and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug, relieved, and found himself being aggressively kissed just as suddenly. He returned the kiss and ignored the man nearby who shouted "Get a room!" at them. When they finally managed to separate themselves, Emi grinned up at him brightly.

"**I've got to go now but I'll meet you….tonight!"**

"Great, where at?"

"Ummm…do you know where Pao's Tea Shop is in the lower ring?"

"Ummm maybe? Yeah sure."

"How about we meet there at sunset?"  
  
**"Great! See you then!"**

"See you!"

"Hey Emi, wait!"

"What is it?"

"You look…WONDERFUL!"

Emi blushed and ran back to her home, giggling with delight. Sokka returned home feeling much happier than he'd felt in a while (it turned out he only lived a couple of streets away). As he entered the household, he found Masami and Aang cooking up what appeared to be some omelettes. It was getting close to lunch time but it seemed that most of the household had decided to sleep in for the day. Toph came wandering out of her room, still in her nightgown.

**"Hey Sokka!"** exclaimed Aang excitedly, holding up the now cooked omelettes, **"Ready for some breakfast?"  
**  
Sokka raised an eyebrow.

**"What are you wearing? And do those have meat in them?"**

Aang looked down at the pink and white apron with a steaming tea cup on front of it that currently covered his clothes.

**"Oh this? I found it the other day. I was helping the local zoo keeper improve his facilities and one of the hog monkeys he had was wearing it by the time we finished. I couldn't find its owner so I brought it home, along with some other stuff the hog monkeys had. Some of it might actually fit you,"** Aang gave him a big smile, **"And nope. They're veggie omelettes! One hundred percent meat free!"**

Later that night, Sokka strutted down the streets wearing his new pants. Aang had brought home a shirt and pair of nice pants with him, aside from the apron. The shirt fit Sokka. It was a bit tight but he felt it showed off his muscles better that most shirts. The pants were a bit big but still looked good. Sokka especially liked the way the purposeful patches in the back looked. Very trendy, he thought. He found the tea shop after not too much trouble and stood in front of it, anxiously awaiting Emi's arrival. She showed up soon enough, dressed more like she had been when he first met her but still looking great, even without the fancy dress. She smiled a welcome at him as he greeted her.

**"Hey!"**

"Hi."

They walked into the tea shop and sat down. While they waited to be served, they caught each other up on what they'd been doing since they'd parted. Emi explained how she'd managed to get another ticket for a ferry to Ba Sing Se and then gotten into the city, searching out her grandparents (on her mother's side) soon after that. Fortunately, with help from some official named Doo Jee or something like that, she'd found them relatively quickly and they'd welcomed her into their home. She'd never been to their mansion before so she'd been stunned and delighted at how wonderful the high life really was. She didn't have to work in a grubby inn or worry about being beaten and there were many servants who would wait on her for just about any reason. The only problem that she still had was the lack of freedom. It was hard to get out of the mansion often, since her grandparents were somewhat overprotective. They'd even given her a curfew for the night. Sokka and Emi ordered tea from a polite young man, failing to notice the belligerent, scar-faced waiter arguing with a customer elsewhere in the crowded teahouse. Sokka told her of their completion of the journey across the Serpent's Pass, their struggle to save the city from the drill, and of how they had still not found Appa yet. She teased him about his skills at haiku-making. Their conversation flipped to how happy they were to be together again, the upcoming Festival of the Earth, and what their plans for the future were. Neither of them noticed the older tea maker who was swooning over his particularly fresh batch of jasmine tea, which Emi soon sampled and enjoyed thoroughly.

Later they walked together through the darkness and came upon a gorgeous fountain, lit up beautifully by a series of lanterns spread throughout the square it was in. They sat there for a little while, Sokka chattering away while Emi listened patiently. After they were finished sitting, Sokka, realizing how late it must be, reluctantly offered to walk her home and she reluctantly accepted. Half way there, however, they got sidetracked in a back alley. One thing had led to another. An innocent kiss became a make out session and a nibble became a bruise on Sokka's neck followed by a bruise on Emi's neck which led to a strip tease which led to…well, as Sokka would later put it, "one of the best nights of my entire life!" Sokka had still never gotten to officially pass into manhood in accordance with Southern Water Tribe tradition. That night, however, in that back alley in the middle of the middle ring, Emi made him feel certain that his manhood was definitely OFFICIALLY secured, tradition or no tradition. Needless to say, neither of them made it home until some time early the next morning. They raised the eyebrows of quite a few passersby, including a certain bandana-wearing girl with scars on her arms who was out for a midnight stroll. If asked, however, they would have sworn they were alone the whole time, just the two of them.

XOXO

The Tale of Aang and Masami

Masami hummed a bit to herself as the water poured down on her from the shower head. She was rarely optimistic at the start of the day, but today she felt confident it was going to be a good day. It was the first day of the Festival of the Earth here and even the fact that they were still trapped in Ba Sing Se couldn't dampen her spirits. It was basically the most important festival of the Earth Kingdom, focusing entirely on celebrating its culture and traditions and the element of Earth. Kali and she had attended the festival a few times in the past but, much as Masami hated to give Ba Sing Se credit for anything, never had she seen such a magnificent setup for the Festival of the Earth as she now saw here. It looked to be a wonderful festival, a city-wide event. Not that she was that fond of everything involved in festivals. She liked the food and some of the shows and stuff people would put on but often enough, the crowds were enough to wear down her patience in no time. And then there were the people who'd wear weird costumes sometimes. They freaked her out. But anyway, the festival wasn't really the reason she was so happy about today. Aang was. He'd asked her, somewhat shyly, if she'd like to spend the day with him enjoying the festival. Just him. Sokka was going to be off with Emi somewhere, now that they had apparently gotten thoroughly reacquainted (Masami rolled her eyes just thinking about it) and Toph had decided to spend the day lazing around the house in her nightgown. So it would be just Aang and her. Crowds or no crowds, she was thrilled. It'd been a while since they'd really had any time alone together. She turned off the shower and started to step out. As she did so, the door opened and she looked up as Aang rushed in and slammed the door. She heard Sokka shouting behind the door and saw that Aang was laughing as he stood facing it.  
**  
"Masami, you'll never believe the joke Toph and I just pulled on-OOH!"  
**  
Aang's face blushed bright red as he turned and realized that Masami was standing behind him completely naked.

**"I-Oh my-I mean-I-I'm just-Masami, I'm soooo sorry!"** he sputtered, backing up against the door. She smiled slightly and wrapped a towel around herself as she walked over towards him.

**"It's okay, Aang,"** she said, kissing him lightly on the forehead before leveling her lips with his in order to give him a real kiss. As she did so, trapping the startled airbender against the door, the door was shoved open and both of them were forced away from it. Masami looked up angrily as Sokka emerged from behind the door.

**"AANG, YOU LITTLE-AAAAAAAAAH!"**

Sokka cried out in alarm as the image of Masami in a towel registered in his brain simultaneously as Masami slapped him hard across the face.

**"SOKKAGETTHEHELLOUT!"** she screamed in his face, shoving him out of the room before slamming the door shut. When she looked back at Aang, he was still blushing and scratching the back of his head anxiously. He gulped as she approached him again and kissed him.

**"I'll be dressed in a minute,"** she told him, smiling again, **"and then we can go, if you're ready."  
**  
He gave her a big, nervous smile, as though he were trying not to smile too big.

**"I'm ready,"** he half-sighed contentedly, electing to politely turn his back to her as she began changing into her clothes, though he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder once or twice. She didn't mind it a bit.

Aang and Masami wore nice new clothes which they had bought specifically for the festival. Aang was in a nice, dark green suit with an adorable little matching hat on top of his head resembling the one the Earth King's bear wore. Masami wore an attractive little dress which was a light shade of purple and came down to about the middle of her thighs. It was held in place by a sash and Masami had let down her pretty brown hair for a change, noting that the normally unruly hair had grown significantly longer since she'd last left it down in public. Aang, when he had first seen her fully dressed up for the festival, had told her she looked 'gorgeous.' She'd blushed a bit in return and told him he looked handsome. As they headed out the door toward the festival, he offered her his arm which she took, smiling even bigger than she had been before, and resolved to keep possession of for as much of the night as possible.

They spent the majority of the morning just walking around looking in a few different shops and had stopped to watch many sideshows. Aang particularly enjoyed the shows. Masami was interested in some of them more than others but she couldn't help but be irritated sometimes by all the people who stopped to goggle stupidly at Aang as if he were a sideshow himself.

"**Oh that's the Avatar!"** she would hear them whisper. Damn right, he's the Avatar and he's all MINE, she'd think snippily, then clutch his arm a bit more tightly. She was especially irritated whenever any other female who seemed remotely interested in him got too close. Aang was oblivious to it all though, enthralled by the sideshows. He especially enjoyed watching any that involved animals dancing or performing tricks. After one such show involving monkeys, he came away happily chittering away about how they ought to teach Momo to dance and do tricks like that. Masami just basked in the glow of his happiness and nodded in agreement. They had lunch then at a small café where a nice, quiet, young waiter by the name of Miki served them. Aang seemed to get a bit testy when Miki's eyes roamed a bit too often towards Masami's chest, but Masami barely noticed and Miki, apparently realizing Aang had caught him, quickly reined in his bad habit in hopes of redeeming himself enough to get a good tip. Apart from that, Masami and Aang enjoyed a tasty lunch and talked of various things. Of Momo and Appa, of Sokka and Emi, of Masami's sister and Pyropants (Aang had found Masami's nickname for the cranky fire prince very amusing), and of many other things. They then traveled around a bit more through shops and such before Aang, sensing Masami's growing agitation at the crowds of people around them, spotted a secluded looking hill. Taking her in his arms spontaneously, he flew/jumped them up to the top of it with the aid of his airbending.

**"I thought you might like a break from being around all those people,"** he said, smiling down at her as he knelt down to place her on the ground. She nodded.

**"Thanks Aang. Some of those idiots were really starting to annoy me."**

Aang lay down next to her on the ground and together they enjoyed the cool afternoon breeze. After a little while, Aang pointed to a cloud.

**"Hey look there! That spikey one looks like a boarcupine!"**

Masami smiled and pointed out one that looked like a platypus bear. They took turns pointing out different shapes in the clouds for a while until Aang found an Appa-shaped one. That immediately saddened the mood and caused Aang to withdraw a bit, upset at the thought of how long Appa had been gone now. Eventually, Masami decided the only way to solve the problem was to tickle the sadness out of him and Aang promptly had his butt, along with the rest of him, tickled persistently until he began to hurt from all the laughing he had done. His laughing caused Masami to laugh as well and soon both of them were aching slightly from too much laughter. Aang kissed her and asked if she was ready to go back down to the festival. He'd spotted some games in a few squares and thought they'd looked like fun. Though she would have been happy to just sit there for a while longer, she allowed Aang to take her back down the hill and they headed towards one of the squares. On the way, however, Masami stopped dead in her tracks, horrified.

**"What's wrong?"** asked Aang, following Masami's eyes to where a large costumed joker stood.

**"I…"** she gulped**, "I'm just a little scared of strange people in weird costumes is all…"  
**  
For a moment, she worried he might laugh at her. But Aang didn't laugh. He just nodded understandingly and put his arm around her reassuringly, leading her another way, thus avoiding the clown. Having arrived at the square, Masami watched attentively while Aang tried every game he could find there. She didn't much feel like trying the games herself. Aang won a few prizes, among them rock candy rings and a funky little doll of sorts. He even won a big stuffed platypus bear as a gift for Masami. She beamed as Aang proudly presented it to her. Aang'd heard rumors there was a square with stuffed 'bears of the Earth King' and asked if Masami might want one of those too, but she insisted that a giant stuffed platypus bear was more than enough for her. She still thought the concept of 'just a bear' was weird anyway. On their way to dinner, carrying all that stuff, they managed to bump into Sokka and Emi. The two couples greeted each other and Sokka explained that he and Emi were thinking about heading back to 'his place' soon, since they'd already had dinner. Before Sokka could stop them, Aang and Masami dumped all the prizes Aang had won on him, asking him and thanking him simultaneously for taking them back to the house for them. They ran off laughing, leaving Sokka to whine to Emi about it as he grumpily picked up the stuff to carry home. Later, as they were eating dinner, Aang managed to surprise her with yet another gift. She'd barely taken her eyes off him the entire time they'd been at the festival, yet, at some point, he'd managed to buy her flowers without her knowing. He presented them to her over dinner now, with a big smile. Masami took them happily and smelled them. They were gorgeous (sunroses of some kind) and smelled wonderful. She had to get up out of her chair to give him a hug. Aang squealed slightly from the tightness of the hug (it was closer to the platypus bear hugs she always gave her sister than the somewhat gentler hugs she usually gave him). Masami kissed him before going back to her seat.

After dinner, Aang became intrigued by the sounds of music throughout the city and followed one certain set of tunes to a large crowd of dancing people. Aang, thinking once again of Masami's hatred of crowds, took her in his arms again and found a nice spot on a flat rooftop for them to overlook the dancers. He then proceeded to teach her to dance. She'd never danced much in the past so she was hesitant to try it. At Aang's urging, however, she conceded to let him lead her. He was an excellent dancer and she found herself enjoying it a lot, despite her uncertainty on the makeshift dance floor. She soon picked up one of the dances but, not too long after that, the music changed and Aang led her in another dance. This one was more complicated but she followed him to the best of her ability nonetheless. Soon enough, she began to tire of trying to keep up with him, even though she was starting to get this dance as well. Sensing that she could use a break, Aang stopped.

**"Would you like to get some ice cream?"** he asked.

**"I'd love some,"** she said, relieved.

Aang dropped down from the roof and soon returned with a big triple scooped cone. He smiled the smile that frequently appeared when he was unsure of how she would feel about something.

**"I hope you don't mind that I just got one. I thought maybe we could share it."**

She thought that was a great idea. They sat watching the crowd below, Aang holding the ice cream between them so that they could both lick it. Eventually, they finished the ice cream, their tongues meeting in the middle of where it had been quite unexpectedly. Masami thought that was a great idea as well and capitalized on it. Aang did too, pushing some loose strands of her hair back behind her ear and gently pulling her closer to him as they deepened the kiss. He ran his fingers through her hair lightly as she held him tightly. For a while, they just sat like that, lips locked, enjoying the experience of ice cream flavored kisses on a secluded rooftop surrounded by the sound of happy music, a comfortable breeze blowing.

They returned home late that night (having decided not to rejoin the dancing) holding hands and enjoying the evening air quietly. They walked past Sokka's room, ignoring the obnoxious noises coming from it and nodded encouragingly at Toph as she proceeded past them determined to put an end once and for all to the noises. They changed quickly into their sleeping clothes and flopped down together into the bed they shared. Masami sighed contentedly and snuggled up close to Aang, her head resting on his chest while his arms wrapped around her.

**"Night Masami,"** he said sleepily.

**"Good night Aang,"** she said, then added more quietly, **"Love you."**

**"I love you too,"** he whispered.

She lay there against him for a while, listening as his breath deepened with sleep, feeling the rise and fall of his chest. As his rhythmic breathing lulled her to sleep, Masami dreamed of the future and of the things she would do in bed with Aang some day. After he had finished puberty.

XOXO

The Tale of Ariana

Nothing seemed to be particularly interesting today as the foursome turned fivesome lazed around the house. Masami was glad to see Sokka and Emi back together, despite the extent of their relationship interrupting her sleep most nights, but she could get over it. The group was in the back yard, Sokka and Aang throwing a discus Sokka'd found outside the house; abandoned by some kids by the look of it; while Masami and Emi caught up, and Toph picked her toes.

Toph and Aang could sense something beneath them, for they both looked alert. Aang stopped reaching for the disc as he hurdled towards him, knocking him in the side of the head.

"**Aang! What's the deal?"** Sokka whined, walking closer to get the toy. Toph sat up as well,

"**You feel that too Twinkletoes?"** She asked him, he nodded. Masami glanced over, as Toph looked at her.

"**She's back."** Toph announced, as Sokka bent down to pick up the disc.

"**Whose back? AHH!"** He screamed as a woman knelt before him, holding the disc.

"**Who're you?" **He asked, falling over from shock.

"**Her name's Ariana. She works for the Earth King. She's a friend."** Masami explained. Ariana smiled, stomping, and making a chair from the ground.

"**Good to see you well."** She said towards Toph and Masami.

"**Same to you. What brings you here this time?"** Toph asked warily.

"**I was just in the neighborhood."** She said with a smirk. Masami rolled her eyes.

"**Last time I checked, the neighborhood wasn't under the ground."** Ariana laughed,

"**Touche'."** She responded. Ariana's green eyes glance towards Aang,

"**Pleasure to finally meet you, Avatar Aang."** She bowed from her seat. He bowed back,

"**You as well…Er, uh, Ariana was it?"** She nodded.

"**Ariana of Omashu."** She confirmed. That was a first, they never heard anything about her save for her job before this. Progress, one could say.

"**So to what do we owe the honor of this visit?"** Sokka asked, almost sarcastically, picking himself up, dusting himself off.

"I need your help. Kuei and all of Ba Sing Se needs your help."

"**Kuei?"** Emi asked, her brow furrowed.

"**That's the Earth King. You must be someone special if you can call him that."** Masami added, Ariana; for the first time, showed some form of emotion. She blushed. Emi smirked,

"**So she's right then?"** She asked, wriggling her eyebrows.

"**I will admit, I do care for him, but I am no Queen material."** She added, lowering her head. Masami almost felt like she knew the feeling. The Avatar. Such a noble position, and she wasn't noble at all. She wasn't lady like, or beautiful. She wasn't much of a catch, but Aang loved her anyhow, and she was very thankful for that. She looked back at Ariana.

"**I think you could be, and if he loves you back, what does it matter, hmm?"** Masami smirked. Ariana shrugged,

"I suppose, though if anyone ever found out where I came from, Kuei would be shunned as a king."

"**What's wrong with Omashu?"** Emi asked, her head cocked to the side. She shook her head,

"**My family…was a group of useless circus performers. I grew up traveling, till my group as attacked by a silent enemy I didn't see until after they attacked us. They killed my family, and my friends. They took me, and taught my their ways. They only attacked us to kidnap a child, their women had the assassin skills unlike no others, and I only had brothers, males were of no use to them. They were all females and most of them just bitter scorned hags. I didn't care for their way of life, and I wanted nothing to do with them, but I wouldn't tell them that. **

**I let them teach me everything they knew, one of them even made me call her Mother. So, Mother taught me how to strike without being seen; how to render people useless, and even how to kill in one hit. Pressure points, major veins and all else were what I learned as a kid, no regular education for me. So, when the eldest of the women died of an illness, and everyone was grieving, I made my escape. I ran until I reached Ba Sing Se. Here, I met agents called the Dai Lee, and I told them what I knew.**

**Next thing I knew, I was a national hero from having caught the murderers and luters who had been raiding their country sides and who had been planning an assassination attempt against the King. This I did not know, but they had been. I couldn't believe my fortune. People hailed me as something I wasn't, and I was finally able to get to the point I could get a real education, and a real grasp on my earth bending abilities.**

**I was summoned before the Earth King while I was a student, and I was in awe. He was such an unassuming man, and as I knelt before him, he told me to rise, for he owed me his life. He told me he would repay me for all I had done. I told him I wanted nothing, so he kept tabs on me while I was in school. I happened to be studying politics anyhow. When I finished school, I was at the top of my class, and I received a job offer I simply could not refuse.**

**So, that is where I am now. I am his Majesty's chief advisor, and I love my job."** Ariana explained.

"**And your employer."** Emi tossed in, everyone smiling lightly, Ariana's face dusting pink again.

"**That too…"** She added quietly. She looked at them,

"**So, this is why I ask you for help. I have to save him, I fear he is in danger again…but I have been away too long, someone will notice something, I'll be in touch."** She said hastily, looking over her shoulder, before stomping; and she was gone. The fivesome glanced between them, and no one really spoke for a second,

"**We have to help any way we can."** Aang said, looking over his friends. They all nodded,

"**Yeah, I'm down with that."** Sokka said. Masami, Toph and Emi nodded again, though they didn't know at this time what they could possibly do to help, but they would know when the time came; they were sure of it.

XOXO

**A/N:** And, I would love to thank my Co-author Katie for the lovely tales of Masami and Aang and Emi and Sokka . This woulda taken much longer without her! And, I'll soon I'll be posting her tales of the other group, so I hope you enjoy these, I know I enjoyed writing them, and she did as well; for her help on mine and writing her own.

Stay flamin'!


	16. Yes, I Juggled

**The Tale Of Iroh **

Kali sat by the fountain, listening idly to people around her chatting and sketching out a picture in the makeshift notebook she'd created over time. She'd started it in Kyoshi, when she'd lived there with Masami and Pappi and had worked on it even after they'd started traveling around everywhere. She'd had little time to sketch though since she'd become a part of Zuko's crew and then wound up basically a wanted refugee running from the Fire Nation. She'd even made the wanted posters eventually once it'd become clear she was associated with Uncle and Zuko. Kali glanced up from her sketch at the row of shops in front of her, then looked back down at her sketch. It looked pretty good so far, except for the last shop in the picture. She dipped her gimpy brush into the cheap ink she'd bought and worked to redo that particular part of the sketch. As she did so, a child nearby her began screaming. Her blood ran cold. When she and Zuko had baby-sat, all of the screaming had been one of the most challenging parts of the whole horrible experience for her because she'd had to restrain herself from completely snapping on the kids. She could not STAND the sound of unhappy children. She'd never been able to. Pappi had used to chastise her for getting so upset about children screaming. She'd gone so far as to directly ask their parents to make them be quiet or even to ask them to kindly shut their mouths. It usually hadn't improved the situation so these days she just kept her opinions to herself. This child was really loud though and obnoxious. Just as she thought she might have to stick her head underwater in the fountain to escape the terrible screeching, she heard a new sound. The sound of a liuqin playing music floated through the air, gradually building. As it built, the demon child's wailing dwindled. Then she heard a familiar voice begin to sing and looked up to see Uncle not too far away entertaining the little one and his mother. As he drew near to them, the toddler reached up suddenly and yanked his beard. She heard him yelp but saw him smile as the little boy giggled. She smiled as well. Typical Uncle Iroh. Always helping people.

A little while later, Kali was walking along, exploring more of Ba Sing Se. It was such a big city and there was so much to see. As she walked along, she heard a loud commotion. Along with other bystanders, she stared as a running blur passed by her. She managed to recognize Uncle and also saw some young boys running away from where he'd come from as well. She hurried after him, wondering what was wrong. When she turned a corner, she found him being confronted by a potential thief. Just as she'd struck a fighting stance, however, Uncle disarmed him in one swift motion, catching his knife as the man fell. Uncle smiled then offered the man his hand, helping him up. Kali stared in shock as Uncle directed the man on how to better his mugging stance. Uncle turned as he spoke to the man, telling him he did not look like the criminal type, and was startled to see Kali. Kali thought he looked enough like the criminal type, however, and kept her eye on the man.

**"Kali, what are you doing here?"**

"I saw you running and I was worried about you."

"Oooh. Well, don't worry. I am fine now. I was just instructing this nice man on how to **improve his fighting stance."**

"Ah, well, ummm...are you sure that's a good idea?"

**"Yes. I am quite certain it is fine,"** he turned back to the man, "**Now what is your name? As I said, you do not seem like the criminal type. Perhaps you could find a new, more suiting profession?"  
**  
Kali watched the man uneasily as he introduced himself as Mao and began pouring his heart out to Uncle. Uncle and Mao sat down together as Mao told them of his dream of becoming a masseur and of how he'd gotten to this point in his life. She stayed standing, still unwilling to trust Mao, though she was beginning to feel bad for him. Uncle made them all tea as he responded sympathetically to Mao's problems. Eventually, Mao began to brighten up as Uncle encouraged him to pursue his dream, gradually building up to reaching it.

**"So you really believe I could be a good masseur?"**

**"Of course!"** replied Uncle while Kali nodded in the background.

**"This is so great! No one has ever believed in me,"** said Mao excitedly.

**"While it is always best to believe in one's self, a little help from others can be a great blessing,"** asserted Uncle kindly.

Eventually, Uncle told Mao of the tea shop where they all worked and Mao told him once he had a bit more money he'd come drink their tea. Then he thanked Uncle and hurried off to find a better job than his current one. Uncle smiled at Kali and put his hand on her shoulder.  
**  
"It is always best to believe in the good in people, even while exercising caution."**

She looked away, a little ashamed at having doubted Uncle's trust in Mao.

**"I know. I just…have seen a lot of the bad in people and it's usually better safe than sorry. I really do try to look for the good though, Uncle."**

**"I know,"** he looked up, **"Ah, but the day is moving on. I had best get going and I suspect you would like to get back to whatever it was you were doing before as well. Enjoying an afternoon off is quite a blessing, I think."  
**  
And with that, he headed off down the street, humming as he went. She shook her head, marveling at how good-natured he always was. She soon discovered a zoo. It was a sad little place really. The animals were all in dirty, crowded, little cages and all of them looked miserable. She sat across from the various cages, whipping out the vague outlines of the different animals and their sad little habitats. Then she went back and filled in the details. She and the zookeeper had a nice chat while she did so about how he wished he could get better facilities for the animals but the Dai Li wouldn't give him enough money. She told him she'd like to help him if she could, but as it was she didn't have much money. Even if she could have used more money, she was glad to have the afternoon off. It was a nice day. After a little while, she finished off a couple of the pictures, which the zookeeper complimented her on, and left, promising to come back soon. It was beginning to get late and she thought it would be best if she got home soon to make dinner. As she walked back though, she noticed a rather large grassy hill not too far away from her rising high above the rest of the city. She looked back at the sky and decided she had enough time for some last minute exploring of the city. She could get a great view of it from up there and maybe even get a nice clear look at the sunset. Uncle wouldn't mind a slightly later dinner and Zuko could just deal with it. She moved swiftly over to it and began the hike up. It was a very large hill and it took her some time before she reached the top where a large, beautiful tree was growing. It was underneath the tree that, to her surprise, she found Uncle kneeling, crying. She stopped, unsure of what to do. It'd been very awkward before when she'd encountered Zuko crying but this was a different kind of awkward. Uncle Iroh somehow seemed untouchable always and certainly always kept a cheerful attitude toward everything. To find him here now, broken, was stunning. She considered leaving but decided against it and tentatively walked up behind him. She examined the picture sitting in front of him, incense smoke curling around it. It was a picture of a handsome young man who looked to be a year or two older than Zuko was now. She dropped to the ground beside Uncle. It was obvious he was grieving for the young man. She made a guess as to who it was and turned to Uncle, putting a hand on his shoulder.

**"Is this your son?"** she asked quietly.

He looked up at her, rubbing at his eyes.

**"Yes. My Lu Ten."**

"He's very handsome."

Uncle smiled sadly.

**"Yes, he was. A fine son too…and a good soldier."**

"You must be proud."

"Yes…very proud."

"…he's gone?"

"Yes," Uncle rubbed his eyes again as he stood, Kali still holding his shoulder as she stood with him, **"He died a few years ago…during our siege of Ba Sing Se, fighting in one of the battles. "**

"I'm sorry."  
  
He turned to face her and looked back down at the picture sadly. Impulsively, she leaned down and hugged him. He hugged her back tightly and dropped his head on her shoulder. After a few minutes, he released her and they stood back staring down at Lu Ten's picture.

**"Today was his birthday."**

"Happy birthday, Lu Ten."

Kali bowed to the soldier's picture.

The sun had nearly set by the time they left the hill. When they got home, they were greeted by Zuko griping about a late dinner. He quieted down immediately though on siting the picture of Lu Ten, which they'd been unable to leave on the hill for fear of its distinctive Fire Nation origin giving them away. They spent the rest of the evening mostly in silence.

XOXO

**The Tale Of Zuko**

Kali set down the tea for the tired workman and walked to the back room, where more tea was being made. As she did so, she glanced at the girl at the other table. Business was slow right now and there were only two customers at the tea shop. She'd seen that girl a lot in here and, while the girl was nice enough, Kali wasn't sure how she felt about her. The girl obviously had a thing for Zuko and Kali couldn't help but feel a little, well, jealous. She hated admitting it. But it wasn't like it was going anywhere anyway, right? Zuko was technically supposed to be engaged to Kali after all. How was he supposed to date anyone other than her? Not that he'd dated her, but still. She frowned down at the boiling teapot in the back room as she took it away from above the fire and set it down carefully. It smelled and looked like it was ready to be served. She could hear Uncle and Zuko talking in the next room, but she couldn't understand them. Then she heard the girl, whose name she knew to be Jin, thank them for the tea. More conversation. Sounded like she was having a chat with them. Kali tried to stay cool and convince herself she didn't care, but it irritated her a little bit. She finished her business with the tea pot. Sounded like Jin was gone now. She felt a little better and walked into the main room of the restaurant to hear Zuko speak lowly and fiercely to Uncle.

**"Uncle, I'm engaged!"**

Uncle's face changed to a look of surprise as if he were suddenly remembering something important and they both looked up awkwardly as Kali walked over to them, looking confused.

**"What's up?"**

Zuko and Uncle made uncomfortable noises and Zuko twiddled his thumbs anxiously.

**"Uhhhhh…"**

"Errrr…"

"Well?"

"Errr, well," said Uncle, pulling at his beard, **"It would seem I have accidentally managed to set up my nephew so that he is, well, committing something similar to adultery, appearance-wise." **Kali furrowed her brow.

**"So…he's cheating on me?...in terms of what our passports say, anyway?"**

**"Weeeeell…yes,"** replied Uncle, **"Not really, I mean…it's not that big of a deal really."  
**  
**"Oh…ummm,"** she told herself to play it off, **"okay. Well," **she lowered her voice here, **"at least we're not really engaged. So, it's not really bad in reality, just…potentially in the public eye. How many people know Zuko, I mean Lee, is supposed to be engaged?"**

**"Not too many, I suppose. I haven't told many people since the ferry."**

**"Ahh. Well…alright, I guess. So what're you doing exactly?"** she turned to Zuko, who still looked highly uncomfortable.

**"Uncle set me up on a date with that girl who always comes to our tea shop. Jin."**

"Tonight?"

He nodded.

**"Well…have fun then, I guess."**

She forced herself to shrug and walked back into the back room, scowling heavily at the teapot in her hand.

The night came and Kali stood by the door of the tea shop, smirking. Zuko'd changed into a nicer outfit, at Uncle's insistence that if he was going to cheat on Kali he might as well do it well. It'd become a bit of a joke with Uncle now and Kali had forced herself to go along with it, cracking some jokes about it as well. But that wasn't what she was smirking about. Uncle had made Zuko stand still for almost ten minutes now while he struggled to tame Zuko's unruly hair and the results of his efforts were amusing. Zuko's hair looked plastered apart in a wide parting that looked, quite frankly, silly on him. She didn't want to tell either of them that but, at the last minute, she took pity on him as he stepped outside and followed him. Jin wasn't out there yet, so she quickly mussed up his hair back to its usual look.

**"What are you doing? It took Uncle ten minutes to do that!"**

"Trust me, you're better off in this case if you just stick to what you know. And as for your date, good luck. She seems nice enough so try not to be too much of a jerk to her, okay?"

With that she went back inside and joined Uncle in peaking out of the window. Soon Jin came along and cheerfully greeted Zuko, who looked lost as she gently led him away. Kali couldn't help but notice now how pretty Jin really was. After they left, she turned back to Uncle.

**"So now that we've got Zuko off to a good start with his potential mistress on the side, what should we have for dinner tonight**?"

Uncle smiled at her slyly.

**"I was thinking perhaps we'd go out for dinner tonight. I think I can find us a good place to go."**

She shrugged and followed him as they headed out the door. They soon arrived at a nice restaurant and were greeted by a host. They were seated and soon ordered some tea for Uncle and fruit juice for Kali. She didn't want to tell Uncle but she'd had enough of tea for a while. They then received their food and as they did, she heard familiar voices.

**"You live with just your uncle, then?"**

**"Uh…well, not just with him. There's a...friend who lives with us too."**

"Why's he live with you?"

"Well…she lives with us because…we were together for a while before we moved here and she doesn't have much of a family. I mean, she has a sister but we haven't been able to find her."  
  
**"Oh. So, you live with a girl?"**

"Yeah…we're kind of supposed to be together."

"Oh."

Zuko responded quickly.

**"But um we're not really together now so that's why my uncle thought we should go out."**

"…"  
  
There was an awkward pause and Kali could see them now. Zuko was toying very nervously with his food and Jin was looking away. She looked back and smiled anxiously.

**"So, how do you like the city so far?"**

A good change of subject, Kali thought.

**"It's okay."**

"What do you like to do for fun?"

**"Nothing."**

Wow. Waita be a social butterfly, Zuko, thought Kali dryly as she sipped her juice and messed with her food. She glanced at Uncle, knowing that he must have planned this, and watched as he winced, clearly embarrassed by his nephew's lack of charisma. A waiter approached Jin and Zuko as Jin began devouring her noodles with sudden force.

"**Excuse me sir, would you and your girlfriend care for dessert?"** asked the waiter innocently.

**"SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"** exploded Zuko suddenly, pounding the table with his fist and causing everyone to look at him. Uncle groaned and Kali stifled a laugh and looked away, both embarrassed and amused by his outburst. She looked down at her food and decided she ought to start eating it instead of giving Zuko and Jin her complete attention. They were paying for this after all. Dinner with a show. Hopefully, the food was at least as good as the show. As it turned out, the show was just beginning.

**"You…have quite an appetite for a girl,"** said Zuko, struggling to come up with something to say now that his outburst was over and the frightened waiter had fled. Jin finished slurping up her noodles.

**"Um, thanks? So Lee, where were you, your uncle, and your, uh, friend living before you came here?"**

**"Um, well we've been traveling around for a long time."**

"Oh! Why were you traveling so much?"

"Uh we were uhhh a part of this traveling circus."  
  
**"Really? What did you do? Wait! Lemme guess,"** she said, appearing to consider it for a moment, **"You juggled."**

**"Yes,"** said Zuko, sounding somewhat perturbed, **"I juggled."  
**  
**"I've always wanted to learn to juggle! Can you show me something?"** asked Jin excitedly, handing him a few items. This Kali had to see. Part of her hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself but she really couldn't help but want him to try it anyway. He obliged, taking the items reluctantly and throwing them up into the air one by one. He attempted to catch them, but they crashed everywhere, including on top of his head. Kali snickered, covering up her smile behind her hands while Uncle shook his head. This was a very entertaining date. Poor Zuko. He was obviously out of his element. After all, this involved actually trying to put forward your best qualities and make yourself seem attractive. So far, he'd managed to let it slip that he was living with a girl he was supposed to be together with, had made himself seem antisocial, and had failed his juggling test. Kali couldn't help but be impressed with Jin's patience and kindness. She was really a sweet girl and, if it weren't for Kali feeling a little jealous, she knew she'd think Jin was a great girl for Zuko to date. So understanding.

**"I haven't practiced in a while,"** Zuko said apologetically, wiping his head off.

**"It's alright,"** replied Jin, smiling softly at him.

Then, after a pause, she said, **"Hey, I want to show you one of my favorite places in the city."  
**  
With that, they got up and left, leaving the money for the meals on the table. Kali watched them go.

**"Well, what do you think so far?"** she asked Uncle, looking at him.  
**"I think I really must teach my nephew a thing or two about dating,"** he replied weakly.

She smiled.

**"Maybe just a couple of things. She doesn't seem to mind though."**

"True."

"If nothing else, at least he's out doing something with somebody for a change, right?"

"Yes."

Uncle stared at her thoughtfully for a moment.  
**  
"What do you think of the two of them together?"  
**  
**"Well…I think Jin's a nice girl, really good about his, uh, lack of social skills so far."**

"But what do you think of them as a couple?"

"Errr…well…"  
  
He continued to look at her with thoughtful look on his face. She sighed.

**"I don't know. I mean, they are kind of cute together…"**

She looked down unhappily. She didn't really want to admit to Uncle that she was jealous but he seemed to already be looking for that in her reaction. Besides, who was she to stop Zuko from dating other girls? It wasn't like they were really engaged. She supposed they could always call off the fake engagement…they'd have to eventually anyway, she guessed. When she looked back up, Uncle was smiling slightly, finishing his tea.

Zuko followed Jin as she tugged him along and wondered where she was taking him. They hurried through the streets. She was a pretty girl and very sweet, really. He begrudgingly admitted to himself that he liked her. Kind of, at least. His thoughts drifted to Kali. He wondered what she and Uncle were doing tonight. But now Jin was saying something.

**"I'm so excited for you to see the firelight fountain! The lamps make the water sparkle and reflect in the pool in the most beautiful way!"**

She seemed so happy...it was…nice. Kali acted cheerful sometimes…but not definitely not this upbeat and…energetic. They reached the place where they were evidently supposed to be. It didn't look like much of a firelight fountain though. Nice fountain but nothing was lit. He looked over at Jin, who looked startled.

"**I can't believe it,"** she said, obviously disappointed, **"They aren't lit."**

Obviously not, thought Zuko, looking down at the disappointed girl beside him. He glanced around but no one else was out here. It couldn't hurt so long as no one saw, could it?

**"Close your eyes,"** he said, turning to her, **"And don't peak."**

She smiled at him hopefully and covered her eyes. He stepped forward, glanced around once more, and sighed, focusing. He opened his eyes and moved fast, rapidly lighting the various lanterns everywhere. He finished quickly then turned back to her. She'd done as he'd asked, keeping her eyes covered the whole time.

**"Okay. Now you can open your eyes."  
**  
She did so.

**"Oh, wow!"** she said, looking awed and walking forward to join him,

**"What happened? How did they light? What did you…?"**

She turned to him and he felt himself smile back at her, in spite of himself. Both of them looked at the fountain. It really was beautiful, he thought. She was right. Suddenly, he felt her warm hand close around his and turned to her. She leaned in towards him and, without thinking, he moved defensely, holding up a coupon between them.

**"I brought you something."**

She pulled back, looking slightly confused.

**"It's a coupon for a free cup of tea."**

She took it and smiled.

**"Lee, this is so sweet."**

He stepped back a bit and rubbed the back of his head uneasily.

**"Don't thank me. It was my uncle's idea. He thinks you're our most valuable customer."**

**"Your uncle is a good teacher,"** she replied gently, **"I have something for you too."**

She turned his head slowly to look back at her.

**"Now it's your turn to close your eyes."**

He did so and she leaned in, taking his lips in hers. He kissed her back but, as he did so, an image of Kali came into his head. He flashed back to the few times they'd kissed, accidently or purposely, and all the things they'd been through together and stopped. His eyes opened and he pulled back, distraught. Jin looked up at him, concerned.  
**  
"What's wrong?"  
**  
**"It's complicated,"** he replied, turning away and staring at the ground, **"I have to go."**

With that he took off through the streets. It couldn't keep going on like this. Something had to happen. He didn't want to make a life here but…something inside him did. And he couldn't keep feeling like this about Kali without making a decision about it. Jin had made him realize that. As much as he'd liked her, he hadn't been able to not think about Kali during their time together and he didn't want to have to deal with this feeling of uncertainty about his relationship with her anymore. Eventually he slowed down to a hasty walk and soon he'd reached the apartment building. He walked upstairs and into their apartment where it appeared Uncle was trimming his plants.

**"How was your night, Prince Zuko?"** he asked.

Zuko didn't answer but walked to the room he and Kali shared and slammed the door.

Kali looked up as Zuko entered the room loudly, slamming the door. She'd gone to bed a bit early, deciding she might as well since they were opening tomorrow and had almost been asleep when he'd woken her up. He paused just inside the door and opened it up again, peaking out of it to answer Uncle about something. Then he closed the door more quietly this time and walked over to his side of the bed, beginning to untie his shirt as he did so. He flopped down on the bed beside her and she heard him groan irritably as he struggled with one knot in particular. She sleepily pulled herself up and reached over silently. Her eyes were adjusted enough to the darkness that she could make out some details, thanks to the bit of light provided by the moon through their new curtains. She had decently long fingernails so she was able to get the kind of grip on the knot needed to pull it apart more quickly. She finished untying the rest of the ties for him while he watched her quietly. Then she rolled back over and looked away while he finished undressing and putting on his pants for sleeping in.

**"Well, how was it?"** she asked. He paused.

**"It was nice,"** he replied shortly.

There was a pause.

**"Well…that's good,"** she said.

**"You mean, you didn't mind?"** he asked hesitantly.

**"Well…"** she said, caught somewhat off guard, "** I mean I wasn't like jumping for joy or anything about it but well…it's not like we're actually engaged so I don't really have any place stopping you from dating people if you want to…"**

Silence. He got into the bed and they lay there for a little while not saying anything.  
**  
"Um, well…"  
**  
She looked over at him.

**"Hmmm?"**

She couldn't see his face but she could tell he was looking at her.

**"I was wondering…do you wanna like…go somewhere…together some time?"**

She froze. Was he…?

**"You mean…like a…like just us going out…?"**

**"Yeah,"** came his nervous reply. She looked up at the ceiling, trying to think clearly but failing. He was actually asking her on a…

**"I guess…I mean I…"**

She felt tongue-tied. Just say it.

"**Yes.",** she paused. **"I'd like that," **she finished.

XOXO

The Tale of Dwi Shu, Miki, and Conall

Kali moved hastily around the tea shop, working there for the last time. She was excited. While she'd been out sketching the other day in one of the many town squares, a man had come up to her and, quite seriously, asked to see her sketches. Thinking little of it, she'd handed him her ragtag book or sorts and he'd spent a good while flipping through them. Eventually, he'd handed it back to her.

**"What would you say to becoming an apprentice at my print shop? I've been looking for a new apprentice for a while now and you seem to have what it takes. These are good sketches, especially for an amateur, and, if you come work at my shop, not only will I teach you how to improve your skills, but I'll pay you a good starting price for an apprentice."**

Kali had been speechless momentarily before she had responded eagerly and asked for more details. He'd taken her to his shop and showed her around. After he'd explained to her more about her job and told her exactly how much he'd pay her, she'd accepted his offer excitedly and hurried home to tell Uncle and Zuko, with the promise of coming to work for the man, whose name was Karim, in a week. Tomorrow would be her first day.

**"Uncle, we need two more jasmine teas,"** called Zuko.

Uncle bustled in through the door, carrying a pot.

**"I'm coming!"**

She'd sort of miss working with them in the shop. It was often fun to see their interactions with each other and customers in the work place and Pao was a nice enough boss. She was still excited about the new job though. She'd never really thought she'd get a job in the art business.

It was a couple of hours before dinner time when Kali and Zuko got off and the sun had not yet set as they walked home. When they arrived back, Uncle greeted them with some unexpected news.

**"We're missing some clothes…"**

"What?"

**"I went downstairs to collect them today and each of us is missing something."  
**  
Zuko scowled and Kali frowned.

"**Oh well, I guess. That's weird though."**

"I cannot think of a reason why someone would want to steal those things but-"

Uncle shrugged.

**"We can do without them."**

Zuko looked out the window.

**"What did I lose, Uncle?"**

"Your nicest pair of pants. The green ones with just the two large patches in the back that looked like they were supposed to be there."

Zuko groaned angrily.

**"I was going to wear those tonight!"**

**"Oh, why is that?"** asked Uncle. Kali was surprised Zuko hadn't told him yet.

"**Um, Uncle, Zuko and I were thinking we'd go out tonight. Y'know, just the two of us. I was going to make you dinner first and then we were going to head out. Is that alright?"**

Uncle gave her a big smile and slapped Zuko's back.

**"Of course! I'm sure you two will have a great time."**

An hour or so later, Kali had finished cooking the roast pig chicken for Uncle and went into the other room to change while Zuko waited in the kitchen. Uncle offered to fix up Zuko's hair again but Kali insisted he looked fine without his hair combed and Zuko insisted that it wasn't like they were doing something important. Just going to dinner. Soon, she and Zuko were on their way out the door with Uncle cheerfully bidding them farewell. Kali had found a restaurant she thought looked nice earlier but she still asked Zuko if he had any place in particular he wanted to go to. Not too surprisingly, he said he didn't care so she took the lead and led him over to the place she'd found. It was a small place, not too expensive, but she'd heard the food was really good. They sat down at the table silently and waited for some service. Kali searched for something to talk about and glanced nervously at Zuko, who appeared to also be looking around for a topic. They were together so much she felt like they didn't have anything to talk about really. Both of them started to say something at the same time and both stopped and looked away.

**"So,"** tried Kali again, "**You think you could get used to Ba Sing Se ever?"**

She knew this was a dangerous topic potentially but still, it was worth a try.

**"I don't like it. It feels too…crowded."**

"True. It is pretty crowded. Some parts of it are kind of nice though. And I've heard the middle and upper rings aren't anywhere near as cramped as the lower ring. Guess that's not too surprising though."

She looked up as the waiter approached them. He looked familiar but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen him before. He was a slim, tan-skinned, dark-eyed individual with a friendly smile.

**"Hi, can I take your order?"**

"Uh, well, can we get some menus first?"

"Oh, sorry! Of course!"

He hastily whipped out some menus from behind his apron and handed them to her.

**"Thanks,"** she smiled at him. Zuko looked up at him warily.

**"Sure,"** the waiter smiled back, **"Do you guys know what you want to drink?"**

Where had she seen him before? She was sure they'd met.

**"Just some water for me, please,"** she said and they both looked at Zuko.

**"Water,"** he said shortly.

The waiter nodded, appearing to be trying hard not to look too much at Zuko's scar, and started to walk off.

**"Okay. You guys need anything else, just lemme know! I'm Dwi Shu by the way."**

She knew that name! That was where she knew him from, she thought, as he headed off to another table. She'd met him and two of his friends shortly after Zuko and Uncle had become refugees. They'd been at Haruka's inn. She wondered whether his friends worked around here as well. She turned back to Zuko.

**"I recognize that guy. We met him and his friends at my old swordmaster's inn, remember?"**

**"No,"** Zuko looked annoyed. Kali wasn't sure why but she decided to go with another topic. She shrugged.

**"So…what do you think happened to Jet and Katara after they got dragged off by those Dai Li agents?"**

He shrugged but didn't say anything, staring down at the menu.

**"I thought I saw Jet the other day turning a corner but when I looked down the alley, he'd already gone."**

Zuko still didn't say anything. Kali looked down at her menu. Dwi Shu came back with the water and set it down.

**"Uh…"** he hesitated and Kali looked at him.

**"Sorry if I'm intruding or anything but haven't I seen you guys before somewhere?"**

He glanced at Zuko's scar then quickly back at Kali. She smiled and nodded.

**"Yeah, I was trying to remember where I knew you from earlier too. We met in an inn some months back. You were with two friends…named…Miki and Conall! And you were heading for Ba Sing Se while we hadn't decided where we were going yet. I'm uh…"  
**  
She'd introduced herself as Kali at that time but now she was going by Sofi…  
**  
"I'm Sofi. When we were at the inn though, I was going by Kali because we were hiding from the Fire Nation. And this is Lee."**

**"Oh! I remember now,"** Dwi Shu gave her a big smile, **"Great to see you guys again. I'll have to tell Miki and Conall. Conall works in the kitchen here and Miki's another waiter."**

He gestured behind him and, as he did so, Kali could see Miki come out of the doorway to the kitchen with a platter and head towards some other customers. The hazel-eyed, tan-skinned boy had had much longer hair the last time she'd seen him, she thought. Really big hair in fact, as she recalled. It was now trimmed down to where it was only a couple of inches longer than Zuko's.  
**  
"So um you guys know what you want now that you have menus?"** Dwi Shu gave them an apologetic smile.

**"I'll have the chicklamb, please,"** said Kali, handing him the menu.

**"And what about you sir?"** asked Dwi Shu politely, turning to Zuko.

**"The roast duck,"** mumbled Zuko.

**"I'm sorry?"** said Dwi Shu.

**"The roast duck,"** Zuko mumbled again a little louder.

**"I'm sorry, it's just I can't hear you and-"**

**"THE ROAST DUCK!"** bellowed Zuko, turning angrily.

Dwi Shu looked frightened and Kali felt embarrassed.

**"Right away sir,"** he said, hurrying away. Kali could see that everyone else in the restaurant was looking at them, including Miki. She stared away from the restaurant at the now setting sun over the roof tops.

**"You know, you really didn't have to say it that loud,"** she said quietly.

**"Well, he couldn't hear me so I said it louder!"** snapped Zuko. Kali sighed. She needed to give him time to cool down. They could talk about it later.

**"Right."**

They sat in silence for a bit. Kali sipped her water, trying to think of some way to fix the way this night was going so far.

Meanwhile, Dwi Shu hurried into the kitchen anxiously.

**"We have an order for roast duck and uh…uh…oh no,"** he said, flustered.

**"What is it?"** asked Conall, from where he was cooking.

**"I can't remember what she ordered."**

"Well just go back outside and ask her then."

Dwi Shu looked back behind him anxiously.

**"I think her boyfriend's kinda mad at me."**

"Why?"

"Because he couldn't hear him the first couple of times he said what he wanted," asserted Miki, walking in, "So the guy flipped out and scared the shit out of him."

**"I'm not scared of him,"** replied Dwi Shu defensively, **"I just feel bad for forgetting her order. Actually, we met them a while back."  
**  
**"Really?"** asked Conall. Miki stopped for a moment and looked at him curiously, tilting his head.

**"Yeah. We met them at an inn a while back. The girl said her name was Kali at the time but she told me just now that was just a cover-up name because the Fire Nation was tracking them. She said her name's Sophi. And her boyfriend's name is Lee."**

**"I think I remember them now. Did he have a big scar on his face?"** asked Conall.

**"Yeah."**

"So you gonna go get her order again or hide in here from the scar guy?" asked Miki.

Dwi Shu gave him a dirty look then headed back out.

**"I'll be back."**

"Maybe," said Conall, he and Miki snickering. A moment later, they heard a loud crash and a yelp of pain.

Kali and Zuko stared for a moment at the injured waiter who was now sprawled out on the ground in front of them. He'd tripped on something apparently as he'd been on his way toward their table and fallen into another table which was fortunately unoccupied. Seeing him still on the ground, groaning, Kali stood and hurried over to him.

**"Are you okay?"**

"Yeah, I think so," moaned Dwi Shu, as he tried to smile at her.  
He started to stand but collapsed again, crying aloud in pain, and grabbing at his left ankle. Kali put his arm over her shoulder.

**"Looks like you must have hurt that ankle. Might not wanna put any weight on it."**

**"Yeah, I guess you're right," **he said.

Zuko watched as they stood slowly, Kali propping him up as he stood on one leg, and led him back to the kitchen. He scowled and followed them in.

**"Dude, what happened to you?"** asked Conall, as Dwi Shu was led in by the girl he'd mentioned earlier. Conall recognized her instantly. That girl from that inn…yeah, he remembered her. Kept one eye covered with bangs and hung out with an older gent and the scarred guy who was currently scowling behind her.

**"Tripped,"** said Dwi Shu, shortly, making a pained expression.

**"Nice,"** commented Miki, looking the girl over. Now that Dwi Shu mentioned it, he did think he remembered seeing her and her boyfriend before. Definitely recognized the guy by his scar. Hadn't they been on a Fire Nation wanted poster at some point too?

Conall took over from Kali and led Dwi Shu to a chair in a corner of the kitchen. He promptly tested Dwi Shu's offending ankle, which caused Dwi Shu to writhe and gripe in pain.

**"Yep. Looks like it's injured to me,"** said Conall, Miki nodding his approval of this assessment.

Soon their manager came over to see what the problem was, responding grumpily to the news of Dwi Shu's injury. He gave him the rest of the night off asserting that Dwi Shu would not be paid for that night and that he'd better get well soon. Dwi Shu looked up apologetically at his friends.

**"Sorry guys. Guess that's less rent money for us…"**

Conall and Miki shrugged it off for the time being and turned back to Kali and Zuko, who was waiting beside her impatiently. The manager had assured them Miki would take care of them for the rest of the night, but Kali had wanted to see that Dwi Shu was taken care of.

**"You guys rent together?"** she asked.

**"Sure do,"** replied Conall, **"Y'know, I do remember you guys from that inn. Nice to see you again. Sorry about the, uh, delay in serving you guys. You're the one who wanted the roast duck, right?"  
**  
He indicated Zuko, who gave a curt nod but said nothing.

**"And sorry but what did you order again?"** he asked Kali.

**"Uhhhh,"** she had to think about it for a moment, **"The chicklamb, I think."**

**"Miki'll be out in a bit with that then,"** said Conall, giving them a friendly smile. Miki nodded.

Kali and Zuko sat back down at their table.

**"Hope he'll be okay,"** muttered Kali, glancing back at the kitchen. Zuko just glared away from the restaurant. After a few attempts to talk to him, Kali stopped trying. Zuko apparently didn't have much to say and it was obvious he was pissed about something. Kali could only guess at what it might be but whatever it was, it was starting to really bother her. After a good long wait, Miki appeared with the food and set it down. They ate it in stony silence for a while until Kali couldn't take it any longer.

**"Alright, I give up. What's your problem this time?"** she asked, her annoyance clearly visible.

**"What are you talking about?"**

"You're angry about something and I don't know what it is. So I give up. Just tell me what you're upset about. I want to know."

He looked away.

**"Don't just look away again. What's wrong?"**

He looked back at her and for the first time in a long time gave her the Kali scowl. She stood her ground.

**"Well? Don't just look at me like that, with your scowl that you save for special occasions only."**

**"You want to know what's wrong?"** he asked suddenly, standing up and slamming his hands down on the table. She looked up at him anxiously.

**"EVERYTHING! Everything is wrong! This restaurant, this city, this…EVERYTHING! I don't want to live here in the fuckin' prison and I don't want to fuckin' like you! I don't even know why I agreed to this in the first place!"**

With that, he stormed out of the restaurant. In the darkness of the streets, she could hear him mutter "Fuck everything…" a little ways away. Kali stared after him then glanced around to see everyone staring at her. Even Miki, Conall, and some of the other employees from the kitchen were crowded in the kitchen door staring. Kali looked down at her food. She wasn't hungry anymore. After a moment of struggling to keep herself from falling apart right there in front of everyone, she stood, composing herself in her mind, and walked over to Miki and Conall.

**"Thanks for the food. How much do I owe you?"**

Miki stayed speechless and exchanged glances with Conall.

**"Don't worry about it,"** said Conall quietly, **"It's on us."**

She stared at him and tried to keep her voice from cracking.

**"Are you sure?"**

**"Yeah. You're good."**

He patted her on the shoulder and Miki nodded in agreement with Conall, looking sympathetic.

**"Thanks…really, thanks a lot,"** she said, looking away and working to keep her composure, **"Hope your friend gets better soon."**

With that, she walked herself out of the restaurant. Miki and Conall watched her go then went back inside.

**"What a fuckin' dickweed,"** muttered Conall, as he returned to his work inside the kitchen.

**"Yeeaah. She didn't seem too bad to me so I dunno what he was so pissed about," commented** Miki.

**"What happened?"** asked Dwi Shu, who was still sitting in the corner, waiting for the others to get off work so they could help him get home.

**"That scar-faced guy just like, EXPLODED at that girl who helped you in here earlier,"** explained Miki.

**"That's not cool,"** frowned Dwi Shu.

"Yeah, it was pretty fucked up," replied Miki, turning back to get another tray of glasses. Soon enough, they closed the restaurant for the night and the boys headed home to their apartment, Conall supporting Dwi Shu as he limped along. They'd have to tighten up spending wise for a while until Dwi Shu could work again. None of them was thrilled about that but there wasn't much they could do about it. Miki told Dwi Shu he was probably lucky he'd hurt himself otherwise he might have had to fend off getting attacked by that crazy Lee and wound up even worse off. Dwi Shu didn't feel lucky.

Kali walked along, going nowhere in particular and feeling no luckier than Dwi Shu. She didn't want to return to the apartment. She couldn't tonight anyway, she thought, trying to fight the tears and failing. She supposed this was what she got for getting her hopes up. It had just been a date anyway and really, what had she expected from Zuko? He was never happy after all…Stupid stupid stupid. Stupid girl. It'd been his idea though. But still…what had she been thinking? Idiot. She walked for a long time and eventually found herself back near the apartment building. She started to just give in and go back but then decided she still wasn't ready and took another walk. She went down many streets before she stopped in front of the tea shop where they worked and sat there for a while. She would've gone in but Pao and Uncle were the only ones with keys to the door. Pao put a lot of trust in Uncle these days. Which reminded her, today had been her last day working there so she definitely shouldn't be thinking of going in. She leaned against the wall of the tea shop, staring up at the sky and wondering if this night could've gone any worse. She supposed it could have. Maybe she should consider herself lucky. Zuko could've lit the place on fire or something. She still didn't feel lucky.

At some point or another, she must have fallen asleep for a bit against that wall. It'd been a long day and the night had seemed even longer. She woke up to find it still dark and decided she'd just sleep on the couch in their apartment. That is, if she had time. The sun wasn't up yet but she wasn't sure how much longer she had til it started to rise. Reluctantly, she traced the path she'd been up and down so often recently back to their apartment building and climbed the stairs leading to their apartment. Opening the door quietly, she slipped inside the dark room and closed the door as quietly as she'd opened it. She stopped as she spotted Zuko sitting on the couch. For a moment, she wanted to run back out of the room, but, knowing he must've already heard her come in, she forced herself to walk forward. She stopped by the couch. After that point, she wasn't sure what to say or do so she just stood there. After what seemed to her far too long, he spoke.

**"I'm sorry."  
**  
For a moment, she wasn't sure she'd heard him right. Before she could decide what to say though, he turned to her.

**"I didn't mean…everything that I said. I was just…mad."**

She swallowed but by this point she'd done her share of crying and was much more composed than she was before.

**"I…noticed. Gonna tell me what about now?"**

"…multiple things. But mainly I guess…"

"What?"

**"Well, you seemed to really like that guy."**

"What guy?"

"Our waiter. You liked him, didn't you?"

She stared at him, feeling confused.

**"No! Of course not, I mean, I didn't really know him that well. He seemed nice enough but if you mean I liked him like-as more than just a friend, then no."**

"No?"

"No."

She stared down at him. How had he gotten that she had a crush on Dwi Shu out of her being polite to him and helping him up when he'd fallen?

**"How'd you get that idea?"**

He didn't reply and looked away.

**"Well, just for the record, I really didn't have any feelings for him. I just wanted to have a nice time with you…for a change, and that was what I cared about more than anything at the time."**

**"Oh."**

She hesitated.

**"How much of what you said before did you mean?"**

He looked back at her and stood up.

**"I meant the part about not wanting to live here… but the part about not wanting to like you…well…it's not that I don't like you…"**

"**It makes things more complicated,"** she stated.

He nodded.  
**  
"Yeah."**

They stood in silence for a while. After a moment, he put a hand behind his head and glanced away.

**"So…you wanna give it another try later? I could…try to be nicer next time, I guess…and maybe not yell…so much."**

She sighed.

**"I…don't know…"  
**  
She looked back at him and sighed again. She was too tired for this. And definitely too tired to ask what else had been bothering him. Probably something to do with the Avatar.

**"I guess we could give it a try."**

She yawned.

**"I think we should probably go to sleep now though…"**

He nodded and they slowly headed toward their bedroom, each of them trying to gauge whether they should take the couch or the other one would take it or if they were alright with sharing the room tonight. Ultimately, neither of them had the energy to argue about it either way so they both spent the remaining hours of the night in the bed, restlessly tossing and turning in their sleep.

XOXO

**The Tale of Kali and Zuko**

Kali scowled. On the one hand, she wanted to look good and pretty for once but on the other hand…she didn't like wearing skirts or dresses at all. She didn't have a choice though, it seemed. Uncle was large and in charge today. Ever since he'd realized Kali and Zuko were indeed interested in each other and were finally trying to act on it, he'd taken over. Today he was dragging them out to go shopping for new clothes. He'd insisted on using some of the small surplus of money they had to get nicer clothes for the great Festival of the Earth. All of Ba Sing Se had been preparing for the festival since before they'd arrived in the city. Months went into the planning for it and the setting up of the decorations and the entire city was involved. The Festival of the Earth occurred in many places around the Earth Kingdom, but Kali had never seen such dedication and preparation go into it as here. It seemed to promise to be the most enormous celebration she'd ever witnessed.

**"Ooooh, you would look most handsome in this outfit, nephew!"**

Zuko's eyes rolled skyward and he palmed himself in the face as Uncle led him toward a light green outfit trimmed in large fancy looking frills of even lighter green. Kali smirked as Uncle held the outfit up to him to compare.

**"Sofi, what do you think of this?"**

Sometimes she almost forgot that was her fake name. Uncle usually didn't call her by name unless they were in their apartment, where he could call her Kali. She held back a giggle.

**"It's lovely Uncle."**

Zuko scowled heavily at her, embarrassed by the extreme frilliness and brightness of the outfit. He looked ridiculous. Kali struggled to control herself.

**"I…think it's a bit too frilly though."**

Uncle reexamined his nephew and pulled at his beard.

**"Hmmm…you may be right."**

Several outfits later, Zuko finally consented to a nice dark green outfit with modest wheat-colored trimmings. Uncle insisted the outfit helped to bring out his eyes. Then it was Kali's turn. Uncle took her arm and pulled her swiftly toward a shop filled with bright, flowery dresses. She grimaced while Zuko followed them, carrying his new clothes.

**"Really Uncle, I think I can find something for myself…you don't need to help me."**

He gave her a big smile.

**"Oh but it's my pleasure!"**

He was soon comparing and contrasting dresses for Kali, forcing Zuko to hold up his clothes on him as well so that Uncle could decide what dress went well with his outfit. Kali sighed as Uncle searched the dress shops, looking for the perfect dress for her. He was putting way too much effort into this. Eventually, he found a nice dress in two shades of green (one darker than Zuko's outfit, the other lighter) and trimmed with the same wheat color as his clothes. After giving it some thought, Kali agreed that it would look very nice. The dress was sleeveless, which made her somewhat uncomfortable, particularly because of her scars. Then again, Zuko had to bear his in public all the time so she figured she could stand a night showing hers. It came down to just below her knees, which was to her liking. She'd never been particularly fond of the way her legs looked, which was part of the reason she preferred pants so much over skirts. Regardless, they had finally finished shopping for clothes for the festival. For now, they could relax right? Uncle had other plans…

The festival was a couple days away and this was the last day all three of them had off before the festival began. Thus, the moment they got home, Uncle insisted they begin right away. He didn't tell them what they were beginning but neither of them was sure they wanted to begin. They set down their clothes and he led them down the stairs into a little alleyway behind the apartment where they sometimes sparred with their swords.

**"Now that we have enough space to move in, I'm going to show you some of the local dances they have here. I've been watching and learning from some of the people who have been here longer and I think I've got a knack for a few of them now."**

Kali gave him a dubious look. Zuko's eyes widened and he groaned.

**"I don't want to learn any dances, Uncle."**

Uncle frowned.

**"But there's going to be a huge dance throughout the city each night of the festival! You must learn some dances so as to be able to participate in the festivities."**

Zuko scowled and began to turn away but was pulled into position by Uncle in mid-stride, caught off guard. Kali reluctantly followed Uncle's lead not too far away. She hadn't danced since her last Music Night on Zuko's ship and she'd never been particularly enthused when it came to dancing but…it might be nice, if Zuko would get over himself and cooperate. Kali followed Uncle's instructions as he demonstrated the first dance, which involved swaying/hopping from side to side while moving your arms back and forth with the rest of your body in certain gestures. That one was relatively easy. Even Zuko, who stood stiffly just watching them at first, picked it up quickly. After that, Uncle taught them a dance which involved a lot of stomping and stiffer arm movement, meant to resemble earth bending. The stomping and arm patterns had multiple variations and Uncle insisted on teaching them all of the variations he had learned. By the time they had finished going through all the variations, Zuko and Kali were somewhat weathered as the stomping particularly took a lot out of you if you weren't used to it. Uncle told them they would have to put in more practice on those variations later in order to master them. The next dance was based on the courting ritual of saber-toothed moose lions and was meant for couples. Initially, the couple would act as if they were in combat with one another, just as the male and female moose lion looking for strong mates would do when first encountering one another. Generally, the first stage of mating was successful only if neither creature won, which indicated they were of equal strength and thus satisfactory strength-wise for each other. The first stage of the dance involved alternation of charging and kicking movements between the two dancers and ended ultimately with their arms locked over their heads(much like the locked antlers of the moose lions) and their heads face to face with their right legs raised elegantly behind them. They would then have to balance like this against each other for some time before moving on to the second stage of the dance. Kali and Zuko struggled a few times as they would literally butt heads when they came to this part of the dance and tried to appropriately lock their arms together. Nonetheless, they eventually succeeded. It was fortunate Kali's balance had greatly improved since she'd first joined Zuko's crew all those months ago. She could even do those tricks she'd learned when she was little in the circus now, so she was able to manage dancing much better these days. Thus, they managed to avoid falling for the most part, even when they butted heads. The second part of the dance involved lots of twirling and graceful gliding away from each other then back together as it derived from the two moose lions chasing each other about. The third part of the dance was when they were finally in harmony together and forced the dancers to work together and put a lot of trust in each other. This was especially difficult for Kali and Zuko, both of whom had lots of trouble trusting the other to catch them or guide them. Eventually, Uncle looked at them exasperated as once again Kali felt the need to look behind her before she allowed herself to fall back into position with Zuko, which involved him catching her.  
**  
"How can you two be so hesitant to trust each other in dancing when you find it so easy to work together when fighting for your lives?"**

They looked at him, confused for a moment. Kali paused and reflected on the times they'd fought together against enemies. He was right. When they'd fought side by side (in other words, any time the Avatar hadn't been involved), she'd found it easy enough to trust Zuko to fight well. When she'd needed him during a fight (again, with the exception of when the Avatar was involved), he'd always been there. And she'd been there for him when he'd needed her too. They exchanged glances and Uncle sighed.

**"Now let's try again and try to think of it as if you were fighting together and only had each other**."

After that, things went a bit more smoothly, though they still had a few issues. After lots of practice, they finally reached the end of the dance, with their necks entwined, bodies held close, and right legs curved around each other's left leg so that they were, again, balanced on one leg. Both of them breathed and sweated heavily, from the effort they'd put into getting to this point, as well as from their keen awareness of how tightly they were holding each other now. Uncle smiled.

**"Very good! I have a couple more dances to teach you, but perhaps we will save them for later. I think now it might be good to have some tea and lunch."**

A couple of days later, the festival began. Everyone was provided with time off from their regular jobs in order to enjoy the festival in its entirety. Only those many people involved in running the festival and restaurants located in certain locations worked during its time. Pao's Tea Shop was not one of those restaurants. Kali awoke early that morning, despite the fact that she didn't even have to get up for work. She stared at the ceiling anxiously, listening to Zuko's deep, even breathing beside her. What was wrong with her? She knew this was a mistake, trying to date the prince of the Fire Nation. One, he was the prince of the Fire Nation. Right now, it was basically his job to rid the Fire Nation of its greatest threat, the best chance for peace returning to the world. That chance for peace also happened to be involved with her sister. And, banished or not, he was still a prince. Weren't they supposed to avoid dating commoners, much less commoners who'd lived all their lives in the Earth Kingdom and were of obvious mixed descent? Two, he was an angst-filled, nearly always angry, self-absorbed…creep who didn't even properly respect his uncle, the only person who was always there for him. How could she expect this to possibly work out, even getting past the whole threat to the only chance for world peace part? She closed her eyes, trying to sort out her feelings for Zuko. In the midst of her doing so, he shuffled in his sleep, mumbling, and turned to his side, shifting over in the small bed they shared so that his head was now leaning against her shoulder. She turned her head to look back at him and, with effort, resisted the urge to kiss him. See, what was that? When had she become so attached to him and why? She contemplated this until she grew too tired to bother with it anymore. She'd asked herself that question a few times now since their first real kiss in that stupid pot. Finding that she wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep, however, she rose and went into the kitchen. Uncle was still asleep and, based on what the sky looked like outside, she guessed it was too early to start making breakfast. She dressed and left for a walk in the brisk morning air. Once breakfast and basic chores were finished later that morning, the real day began.

Uncle strolled cheerily through the streets, Kali beside him, Zuko trailing them slightly. Uncle wore a new outfit he'd gotten himself, Kali wore her normal black outfit, and Zuko wore a scowl. They walked along through the crowds, stopping occasionally at the different vending stands and sideshows set up throughout the streets. While perusing one particular stand which included all manner of obscure statues and a haphazard collection of other strange objects, Kali came across a statue which looked just like the one Uncle had bought on the first day she'd met him. As odd as the statue was, she knew he'd taken a real liking to it. She felt as though she owed him a lot and had never showed him the appreciation he truly deserved. It would be nice to give him something, a token of her gratitude for his kindness and the companionship he provided. After a moment's consideration and some haggling with the vender, she bought the statue and stowed it in the bag Uncle had asked her to bring for shopping purposes. She'd put it in a nice place in the apartment when he wasn't looking. She rejoined Uncle and Zuko to find that Uncle had purchased some tea bags of special recipes which he had never tried before. He put them in the bag and talked for some time excitedly about the possibilities of the new tea as they continued their way through the winding streets. Eventually, their shopping for the day done, they returned home and had a late lunch. Uncle then insisted that tonight would be the perfect night for them to go out on their 'first date.' He'd insisted that the real first date had merely been a trial run and didn't count, unwilling to accept how badly it had gone.

**"Uncle, aren't all first dates basically trial runs?"** asked Kali.

Uncle pulled at his beard.

**"Weeeell, usually, but not in this case."**

**"I see."**

Uncle left for a moment to find where he'd stashed their new outfits, which neither of them had yet worn, and Kali set up the statue off to the side in the main room where she thought it looked somewhat appropriate. Zuko groaned.

**"Really? Why did you have to get him another one of those?"**

**"Well, he seemed to like the first one so much. I thought it might be nice to, I dunno, show him some gratitude for a change. He's a good man. You're lucky to have him as your real uncle."**

**"Yeah,"** he said lowly, after some thought, **"I know."**

Uncle returned, bustling about handing them their outfits and brewing some of his new tea. He soon noticed the statue. He looked startled at first then exclaimed happily.

**"What a fine statue! I did not see this here before, did one of you purchase it?"**

**"I did, Uncle,"** replied Kali, smiling, **"I remembered how much you liked the first one you got from those pirates when I first met you and thought you'd enjoy having one again."  
**  
**"It looks as magnificent as ever! Thank you Kali!"**

He hugged her. Once lunch was finished, he ordered them to don their outfits. Kali sighed. Even with her uncertainty about going on another date with Zuko, something in her just wouldn't let her resist trying it again. Zuko changed in Uncle's room while Kali went into their room to change.

Zuko slipped off his clothes uneasily and began to pull the nice new shirt on. He still wasn't so sure about this. Why had he done this? They'd already been on one date and that'd gone completely wrong. Despite what she'd said, he couldn't help but still wonder whether or not Kali had liked that guy. Dwi something. This was a mistake, he thought, as he pulled on the pants. He was sure of it. After all, he was a prince! What was he doing dating a peasant, a peasant who could be considered a traitor no less? Then again, everyone in the Fire Nation considered he and Uncle traitors these days…his only chance to fix that was the Avatar and he had no idea where he was. Uncle seemed to be content with just settling down here but…Zuko scowled. He didn't want to just settle down. He wanted his honor back, his rightful place on the throne, his home, his father's approval, his father's…his thoughts trailed off as painful memories flooded his mind. He put his boots on and messed with the ties of his clothes, then sighed before walking back out into the main room. If this was such a mistake, then why did he still want to do it? She took longer than he'd expected and he stared out the window anxiously as Uncle tried to give him some last minute dating advice.

"**Be kind to her, Zuko. Kali is a fine girl so treat her with respect like you would any young lady back in the Fire Nation. Smile at her more often. Let her make some of the decisions too…although with Kali, I doubt that will be much of a problem."**

Uncle sighed.

**"Zuko, at least try to enjoy yourself. You might actually find yourself having a good time for once if you do."**

The door to Kali and Zuko's room opened and Zuko's eyes widened as Kali stepped out timidly. He'd never seen her look so...beautiful. Her black hair, which was normally kept up in a ponytail and often hidden under a bandana, hung down to slightly past her shoulders, neatly combed. The dress fit her nicely, accentuating her curves and showing off much more of her skin that he was used to. He'd actually never seen her wear anything other than pants, even to work. Her legs, though still partly hidden by the dress, looked attractive enough. He didn't know why she kept them so hidden all the time. Another new thing was that she was wearing makeup. She'd done it herself, so it was rather modest yet he thought it made her face look really pretty. She still kept one eye covered though, as usual, so he was only able to see part of her face. Still, it looked really…good. He forced himself to look away and tried not to blush as he struggled to downplay just how very much attracted he was to her right now.

Kali tried not to blush and stepped forward as casually as she could. She couldn't really tell what Zuko was thinking but she felt very self-conscious and worried that he was looking away because he didn't like what he saw. Uncle, however, was very kind and open in his opinions, as always.

**"You look wonderful, Kali! Absolutely beautiful!"** he said.

She blushed and looked away.

**"Thanks Uncle."**

She glanced back at Zuko.

**"You...look nice,"** he said.

**"Thanks,"** she smiled shyly, **"You look nice too."**

And he really did, she thought to herself. The outfit fit him nicely and she thought he looked really quite handsome in it. Maybe Uncle had been right about it helping to bring out his eyes after all…

**"Well, you two had better get going,"** said Uncle, nudging Zuko. As they started to leave, he called after them.

**"You two lovebirds have fun down at the festival tonight!"**

Kali couldn't help but wonder if perhaps that last remark had made Zuko blush too.

Zuko and Kali walked tentatively outside, her ruffling his hair as they did so. Having it combed and parted the way Uncle did it still didn't look right on him. They continued on their way awkwardly through the streets.

**"So…"** started Kali, **"Got anything you want to check out while we're here?"**

"Not really," replied Zuko.

**"Well…we could…look at a couple sideshows I guess,"** she said, trying to figure out how to make this date work, **"That okay?"**

Zuko thought back to what Uncle had said. Be kind to her. Treat her with respect. Let her make decisions.

**"Sure."**

"Okay…cool," said Kali, surprised at his agreeableness. Zuko led her over to a nearby sideshow where a crowd had gathered. Zuko frowned and shoved his way through, Kali following behind and apologizing. She looked down over his shoulder as they arrived near the front of the crowd. It was a pair of trained dancing monkeys in little uniforms. Their dancing was rapid and playful as they danced to accompanying music. After a moment, Kali glanced at Zuko. He'd obviously lost interest quickly. She couldn't blame him. It was cute and fun but she'd seen more exciting things. They'd better find something else. She was startled when she looked back down and saw that a third creature had joined them. Not just any creature either. It was a flying lemur just like the Avatar had! She hadn't seen any lemurs other than that one. Could the Avatar be here in Ba Sing Se too? They definitely needed to find something else now. She grabbed Zuko's arm and led him away through the crowd hastily. He looked at her with a questioning look.

**"I just thought you didn't look like you were that into that show…maybe we should look for another one?"** she asked. He nodded. They went through a few more shows. Even Zuko seemed to find a couple of them entertaining. Eventually, however, Zuko noticed a square filled with games of different kinds.

**"You wanna…try a game or something?"** he asked, indicating the square.

**"Sure,"** said Kali, smiling and looking expectantly at him.

Zuko, though dates weren't his specialty by any means, took advantage of her pause to take hold of her hand to lead her toward the square, taking her by surprise as well. She'd automatically expected him to lead since it'd been his idea but hadn't expected him to hold her hand. Her smile widened and she looked away to hide it. She tightened her grip on his hand. As they reached the square, there was a moment as they stood looking around where both of them considered whether to keep holding hands or not. For a moment, Zuko made as if to remove his hand but when Kali hesitated to let go, he hesitated as well then reclaimed her hand a bit more tightly. They looked at each other and she gave him a slight smile. He turned quickly to look at the game in front of them. It was one of those carnival type games where people throw balls to try to hit stacked targets. In this case, the targets were empty jugs.

**"Wanna give that one a shot?"** asked Kali, following his eyes, **"You've got good aim, after all."  
**  
He glanced at her.

**"You think so?"**

"Yeah, I've seen you hit targets farther away than that."

Appearing to find encouragement in that, he stepped forward to the counter where the man in charge of the game handed him three balls, giving him three shots to hit the target. Kali decided to just watch, just in case. With Zuko, things tended to be either hit or miss. If this was a miss, things could go badly quickly. Fortunately, it was a hit. Unfortunately, the target wasn't the only thing he hit. His first go at it, he hit the target hard and true, scattering all of the jugs. The ball, however, wasn't done after having been thrown with so much energy. It bounced off the back wall to a post. From the post, it promptly winged down to smack Zuko hard in the head. A few bystanders started to laugh. Kali smirked a bit but put a hand on his shoulder.

**"Y'okay?"** she asked, her expression changing to concern as she asked. It's not like his head hadn't taken enough blows already over time and she didn't want him to get upset.

He scowled and mumbled something grumpily about 'whatever, it was just his head.' The man behind the counter, who had ducked to avoid the wild ball, stood up and asked if he wanted to use his last two balls, since he had already won once. Zuko shook his head 'no' and looked surprised as the man turned around and handed him a huge stuffed…something.

**"Umm, what is that exactly?"** asked Kali, looking at the enormous stuffed animal Zuko now held in his arms.

**"That, my dear, is modeled after the Earth King's pet bear, Bosco!"**

**"Wait…just a bear? Not a platypus bear or a skunk bear or something like that?"**

"Nope, just 'bear.'"

Kali and Zuko looked bewildered.

**"Hmm, never heard of that before. Thanks,"** said Kali, as she and Zuko walked away, Zuko looking displeased at now having his arms filled with a giant stuffed unusual animal dressed in an Earth Kingdom uniform. Kali smiled at how odd the scene was and chuckled a little at Zuko's expression contrasted with the happy look of the bear.

"**Maybe we can stop by the apartment to drop this off with Uncle,"** she said.

**"Do you want it?"** he asked.

**"Sure,"** she said, as he offered it to her**, "Uh, thanks for winning it."**

He nodded, rubbing the back of his head.

**"Yeah…no problem."**

After they'd perused the selection of the other games a bit, winning one or two more prizes along the way, they left the square. It was almost time for dinner now. Zuko was sulking a bit because Kali had beaten him at the last two games they'd competed at. Kali smiled victoriously. She balanced the bear on one arm and took his hand in hers as they headed back to the apartment.

Uncle was taking an afternoon nap so they were careful to be quiet and left quickly, leaving the bear sitting in a kitchen chair holding the small Genamite ring and bag of homemade mudcocoa cookies they'd also won. They searched for a place to eat, holding hands more or less comfortably by now. Well, thought Kali, this is going a lot better than the last 'first date' anyway. He wasn't yelling yet after all and they were actually acting somewhat like a couple this time. Hopefully, dinner would go better tonight. After some discussion about where they would eat, they chose a small place they hadn't gone to before and sat, hoping the food and service weren't too bad. As it turned out, the service was good and the food tasty. Best of all, the server was a girl, so Zuko felt no need to act jealous. It was a family owned restaurant and everything tasted as if somebody's grandmother had put hours into it. Not that Kali knew what it was like to have a grandmother but even so…well, Pappi had been a pretty good cook at least. He wasn't even really her grandfather but whatever. Mercifully, their conversation flowed well enough. Zuko appeared to actually be trying to be pleasant and Kali appreciated and built upon it. It was the most comfortable discussion they'd ever had and the most talkative Kali'd ever seen Zuko when he wasn't ordering people around. Among other things, they talked about Ba Sing Se, the festival, Uncle, and that cabbage merchant they'd seen earlier whom Kali was certain had been Po Po from the inn where they'd met Dwi Shu and his friends. As they exited the restaurant, they heard the beginnings of music and looked around to see that people were gathering in all of the squares. The first festival dance was beginning. Kali glanced at Zuko, sure that he'd rather not dance if unnecessary.

**"We don't have to dance if you don't want to. I won't tell Uncle if you won't,"** she said. Part of her hoped he'd offer to anyway. After all, they'd practiced for it a good amount by this point and it might be fun. He looked back at her.

**"Sure?"**

"Yeah. It's fine."

He looked relieved and, even though she was slightly disappointed, she felt a little relieved in a way too. Suddenly, however, they heard a familiar voice.

**"Lee! Hey!"**

They turned to see Jin coming through the crowd and Zuko looked back uneasily. Kali squeezed Zuko's hand a bit more tightly. Jin looked at Kali somewhat startled as she reached them, then realization seemed to light up her eyes.

**"Oh. Is this…your girlfriend, Lee?"**

**"Yeah,"** he said, an embarrassed silence between the three following. Kali looked over at him in silent surprise. He'd actually acknowledged her as his girlfriend just now. And not in the way that he'd been acknowledging her as his fiancé. It had felt…real this time. Kali decided to break the silence.

**"I'm Sofi. Jin, right? Nice to meet you."  
**  
**"Nice to meet you too,"** Jin said, smiling uneasily, **"So, um, are you two gonna dance?"**

**"Well, we were thinking we might just watch this time around,"** replied Kali.

**"Do you guys know any dances?"**

**"We've been learning," replied** Zuko, who appeared more uncomfortable than either of girls at this point. The music was picking up, building in strength.

**"You guys should give it a try then,"** Jin smiled warmly this time, **"The festival dances are always one of the best parts of the festival. It'd be a shame not to get involved. Come on!"  
**  
Before either of them could protest, she ushered them forward into the now excited crowd in the nearest square. People around them began to dance slowly, gradually speeding up with the music. They were doing the first dance Uncle had taught Kali and Zuko, the relatively simple one. With urging from Jin, Kali and Zuko joined in and soon all three of them swaying and hopping back and forth to the music. As the music reached a constant pace, people around them began free-styling. Kali was content to stick with the pattern she knew for now, but Jin experimented. She was a good dancer. Zuko looked somewhat lost and didn't seem sure of why he was doing what he was doing. He got offbeat a couple of times dancing and Kali and Jin had to correct him. He soon got used to it but even then looked a little lost. Kali had a feeling this was the first time he'd ever danced to music in his life. Eventually, Kali excused herself and Zuko and left Jin to dance with some friends she'd found. They attempted to make their way out of the dancing group but were caught when a new dance began. It was the dance based upon earthbending and they were soon trapped within the mass of dangerous dancers, struggling to avoid being punched or kicked as the people stomped and swung about. Finding themselves stuck and urged on by the people surrounding them, they wound up joining in the dancing once again. Zuko shoved away one or two of the surrounding men who got a bit too close to Kali, deliberately taking up a bit more room with his stomping and punching. Finally arriving on the outer edge of the dancing masses, they made it out and sat down on the edge of a fountain, catching their breath. It was clear both of them were very relieved to have gotten out of the crowd. Kali could stand crowds just fine but was decidedly not fond of them. Zuko seemed to hold them in slight contempt. Also, that particular dance was an exhausting one and with so many people closed in around them, they'd worked up quite a sweat. For a while, they just watched the dancers.

"**I'll be right back,"** said Zuko, standing up.

**"Okay,"** said Kali, then followed it with, **"Where are you going?"**

He had already walked away though. She worried that something might be wrong but stayed where she was, noting the direction he'd headed in. Something on a roof not too far away caught her eye. She glanced up at it. In the darkness outside of the lit square she could make out two figures dancing in a lively fashion. One seemed to be a bit more into it, with the other working to keep up with it. A smart pair of dancers, Kali thought, finding a more secluded spot like that to enjoy the party from. She turned back to the main crowd, frowning and wondering if she'd made a mistake somehow, causing Zuko to leave. A few minutes later, however, her concern was alleviated when he reappeared beside her, holding two ice cream cones.  
**  
"I thought you looked hot so, uh umm…"**

The implications of what he'd just said appeared to dawn on him and Zuko blushed and simply held out the ice cream to her. She couldn't help but laugh a little and smile widely at him.

**"Thanks…"**

As she reached for it, however, the ice cream fell from the cone onto her leg. She and Zuko looked down at it.

**"Oh…oops. I've never had that happen before."**

Zuko frowned and she gave him a slight smile in hopes of reassuring him.

**"It's okay though. Thanks anyway."**

She wiped at it and used some of the water from the fountain to wash it off as he sat down, still holding the empty cone and his ice cream. After some hesitation, he gestured for her to take the ice cream, this time holding it more carefully.

**"Zuk-I mean Lee, really I'm fine. I don't want to take yours from you."**

"It's fine. I don't want it that much anyway."

**"Well…if you're sure…"**

He nodded.

**"Well, thanks."**

The music paused for a while and people dispersed temporarily, seemingly following Kali and Zuko's example for the most part. However, the crowd soon returned.

**"What now?"** wondered Kali aloud.

**"It's time for the Courtship Dance of the Mooselions!"** she heard a girl not too far away shouting excitedly, tugging a friend beside her, **"Come on, let's go get some guys!"**

She thought about asking Zuko if he wanted to give this one a try as well but thought better of it. Of course not. She was sure he was sick of dancing by now and she didn't blame him. She had enjoyed dancing during the Music Nights on his ship but that had been mainly because of the company of men she was with. She turned to Zuko and was surprised to see him standing. He had a reluctant look on his face, as if he was about to do something he might regret.

**"So…since we practiced so much and already danced tonight...want to do this one too?"**

Wow. Not what she'd expected from him. He was usually so…unwilling…just in general about almost anything aside from finding the Avatar. Was he really just doing this for her?

**"Er…yeah I guess, if you want to."**

That'd been a stupid thing to say, she thought. Did he really look like he wanted to? But he didn't say anything other than to nod and she stood, taking his hand as he led her to the edge of the regrouped crowd. The music began and all the couples took their positions opposite each other. Suddenly the music picked up and leapt and the dance was begun. They were swept away in the shifting movements of charging and kicking, twirling and gliding, leaping and bowing. There were moments occasionally where the action would freeze and the music temporarily lift as the dancers would stop in fixed positions, balanced against each other. Then the music would intensify again and the dancing would continue to its next stage. Kali's mind went blank as they shifted through the movements, automatically following the steps Uncle had drilled her and Zuko in for the past few days. Zuko seemed to be in the same state of mind. Finally they found themselves in the final position, their necks entwined and their bodies held close while balancing on one leg. Surrounded by other couples now and sweating again from the dancing, they breathed heavily on each others' necks. Slowly, they lowered their upraised feet to the ground and leaned back to look into each other's faces. Zuko raised a hand and, deliberately, brushed back Kali's bangs. It was the first time he'd ever seen both her eyes at the same time. He stared down into one bright blue eye, which he had always known as hers, and found it matched not by a second blue eye on the left but by an equally bright golden eye. So that was what she'd been hiding behind those bangs. Kali stared back into his piercing fiery eyes and felt her heart beating hard inside her as she waited for his decision. The waiting was ended abruptly as his mouth encompassed her own and she returned its embrace. The temperature of the air immediately around them rose slightly as, even after the other couples around them had separated, they held their positions. It had been a good night, Zuko decided. Uncle had been right about enjoying himself if he tried.

XOXO

**The Tale of Kali**

Kali was awoken in the middle of the night by loud yells for help. It had been a couple of weeks since she and Zuko had officially (in their own minds at least) become a couple and, even as it made sleeping together at night increasingly…unsettling, it made living together in general increasingly more pleasing. Ever since that second 'first date', things had gone better for the two of them. Even when they got into arguments, Zuko never yelled like he had on their first 'first date.' He actually smiled sometimes these days and once she'd even gotten him to snicker. She'd been completely caught off guard the first time he'd looked happy. Zuko was also being slightly more respectful and nicer to Uncle now, who in turn seemed happier as well. All this plus the fact that, for the first time in her life, she had a boyfriend, made Kali happier too. At the present moment, however, Kali was forced to leave her place in the warm arms of a sleepy Zuko, also woken by the cries, to find out what was happening in the main room of their apartment. She opened the door and was horrified to find a naked Uncle flailing about with what appeared to be an enormous crystal quickly engulfing his right arm while he held the night's leftovers in his left hand, flinging them all about the room in his panic. The Genamite ring! He must have gotten up for a midnight snack and decided for some reason to try it on. Kali, blushing brightly, started forward and struggled to keep her eyes on the Genamite as Zuko appeared groggily beside her, then recoiled from the sight as well.

**"Uncle, you have to break it! It's only rock candy!"** she shouted, grabbing his rock covered arm to restrain him from flailing. Uncle stopped flailing and stared down at the rock creeping up to his shoulder in confusion.  
**  
"Rock candy?"**

Kali forced his arm onto the table and looked at Zuko for support. Zuko gave it heartily, sprinting forward and delivering a powerful kick backed by a bit of firebending to smash the Genamite from his uncle's arm. Uncle sighed in relief as the Genamite shattered and scattered throughout the room, freeing his arm and causing the ring which had started the trouble to shatter as well. Kali frowned for a moment then spoke loudly,  
**  
"LEE. YOU REALLY NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL WHEN LIGHTING TORCHES AROUND UNCLE AFTER HE HAS BEANS WITH DINNER."**

They both looked at her questioningly.

**"I figured that might explain why we just had a bright flash of light in our apartment, if anyone happened to notice. I don't want people to get suspicious,"** she whispered, thinking back to when Jet had been watching them. They nodded then Uncle smiled.

**"I am so glad you two heard me! I got hungry earlier so I came out to get a quick snack. When I noticed that ring still sitting there, I thought I might try it on and then -OH!"**

He had suddenly become aware of why they were both looking away from him with uncomfortable looks on their faces.

**"I'll…go get dressed."**

**"You do that, Uncle,"** said Zuko, holding a hand up in front of his face.

Uncle rushed back into his room, looking terribly embarrassed. A moment later, he came back, clothed, and assisted them in cleaning up the mess he and Zuko had made of the leftovers and candy, apologizing profusely all the while. Soon enough, the mess was cleaned and they all returned to their beds, Kali and Zuko snuggling closely together as they fell back to sleep.

Kali continued to be amazed at how much better things were with Zuko these days, as well as just how attached she really was to him. She continued to worry about the consequences of this attachment, but, after their second successful date, she'd finally come to understand just how great an extent her attachment to him had reached even before they'd begun dating, perhaps even before they'd kissed. Before their first kiss, he'd come to be mostly like a troubled brother to her in a strange way, someone she needed to look after. While he'd become that to her, Uncle had come to be the closest thing she'd ever had to a father. Even Pappi had never felt as much like a father to her as Uncle did now. He was like both a wise father and a trusted friend at this point, someone she could always count on. Zuko wasn't so much trustworthy, which was what made her hesitate so much to trust her feelings for him, but, gradually as she had gotten to know him more, she hadn't been able to help but care about him and form some trust between them. She'd already had the attachment. The only difference now was that he was no longer like a needy brother to her. He was a needy boyfriend. The only downside to this, as far as she could tell, was how much more jealous he acted of her these days (she'd actually had to prevent him from getting into fights with a couple of guys by this point) and how much more aware of her growing bond with him she was. It was too late to go back now, though, wasn't it? And even if she could take it all back, would she really want to?

The night after Uncle's run-in with the candy, Kali and Zuko sat at the same restaurant they'd gone to on their first failed date. Dwi Shu and Miki, whom she was by now somewhat friends with, both greeted her cheerfully but gave Zuko wary stares. He returned the same suspicious stare back at them but said nothing.

**"So how's Pao's Tea Shop right now?"** Kali asked, hoping to break the tension a bit.

**"It's fine,"** he mumbled, **"Business is still improving."**

**"That's good."**

Dwi Shu brought them their drinks silently. He knew by now how Zuko was and knew better than to say anything to him or to Kali with him around, other than necessary questions. Kali thanked him as he left.

**"How's your job?"** asked Zuko, after pausing to watch Dwi Shu leave.

Lately, it'd seemed like he'd been making a real effort to show more interest in other people and actually keep conversations going.

**"It's going well,"** Kali replied, **"Master Karim has actually been pretty complimentary of most of the work I've done for him so far. I've only gotten to do small stuff generally but still, it's great to have a master artist compliment my work. And his criticism is very useful for improving it, so even that's a plus usually."**

Zuko nodded attentively. Dwi Shu returned to take their order. Once he had done so, he hurried away, glancing uneasily behind his back at Zuko as he entered the kitchen. For a moment, Zuko was silent, looking out of the restaurant like he'd done the first time they were there together, and Kali tried to think of something else to mention or to ask him about. Abruptly he turned back to look at her and asked her an unexpected question.

"**What's your sister like?"**

**"Huh?"**

**"Your sister. The only reason we met was because you were searching for her and I've hardly ever seen her. So what's she like?"**

"Oh. Well, Masami's…different. She grew up dealing with a lot of people being mean to her, especially Dagan, our dad, so she tends to be either really quiet and closed off from someone when she first meets them or, more often, it seems like she's really irritable and blunt around them. It just depends. She's a great friend though, once she starts to like you. She's loyal and caring and always there if you need her…unless she's wandered off or isn't paying attention, that is. Not as innocent as people seem to assume she is when they first meet her though."

Zuko nodded and frowned, a thoughtful look on his face.  
**  
"She's only your half sister right?"  
**  
**"Right."**

"So…how'd you two find each other? And what about your parents? How'd they meet?"

Kali spoke very lowly, glancing around to make sure there was no one nearby to hear them.

**"My dad met my mom when he was in the Earth Kingdom military. He was one of the soldiers who ran the prison camp I was born in. He took a liking to her, I guess, and she felt the same way about him too and thought he cared about her. He snuck into her cell** **one night and they had sex. After that night though, he requested to be transferred and confessed to her that he had a wife expecting a child at home and that he'd just used her basically. I was born later on and we lived in the prison camp until I was about 8. Then a company of Fire Nation soldiers ambushed the prison camp one night. They attacked the prisons first, however. Maybe they were confused as to where the Earth Kingdom soldiers were but, whatever the reason, they burned down the entire camp. My mother found a way for us to get out of the prison but as we were escaping a beam fell on top of us. It pinned her to the ground and burned both of my arms."**

She got quiet for a moment.

**"I…couldn't save her…I wasn't strong enough. She, of course, told me to leave. In the end, I had to. After that, I went looking for my dad. I got lost a lot because his town was really small and not many people knew about it. Not only that but I didn't have anything and couldn't really do anything to get money or food, other than work whatever odd jobs people were willing to give me or beg…or steal when I was desperate. Eventually, I made it but it took me somewhere around two years of wandering around the Earth Kingdom to get there. I found my dad." **

She got quiet again, trying not to let herself get too upset. She could feel herself tearing up but she didn't want to cry in front of Zuko. Especially not in public. After a little while, Zuko seemed to get concerned.

**"Y'okay?"  
**  
She nodded.  
**  
"So…then what?"**

**"Well…I never actually told Masami or anyone else about this…I didn't want to upset her more than she already was with Dagan. Once I got to the village, I found my dad and his family pretty quickly. I was scared to approach him, especially with Masami and her mom there, so I waited until it was just him in the house. When I actually got to talk to him and told him who I was…he didn't want me. He told me, among other things, I was a big mistake that should never have happened and he hated me and my mom. When I tried to tell him I'd been looking for him for a long time and I needed his help, he told me he didn't care and told me I was a disaster that he never wanted to see again. Then he kicked me out of his house…literally and told me he'd hurt me if he ever saw me again."  
**  
Zuko scowled heavily, looking as if he wanted to interrupt, but instead he waited while she looked away, collecting herself.

**"After that, I hid out on the outskirts of town, not sure what to do. The last day I was going to stay there, there was a terrible storm which caused a flood. The flood destroyed the town and killed most of the people in it. Masami survived and we became friends after a while. I went with her to Kyoshi to help find her grandfather. After we found him, he actually took me in. He knew…about the affair…and he still took me in. The day I told Masami…she didn't care. I've never forgotten how much she didn't care. She loved me anyway, even though I was proof of Dagan cheating on her mother…and a firebender too. A couple years later, Pappi died. We'd been traveling around together ever since until…"**

"**Until she found the Avatar…and you met me."  
**  
She nodded. She'd been trying to think of a good way to say the same thing without actually mentioning the Avatar. They hadn't talked about him in a long time and she'd hoped to keep it that way.

**"I'm sorry."**

She looked up from the table at him. He'd meant it sincerely. They were quiet for a long time. After such a heavy subject, she needed something to make her smile. She struggled to think of something.

**"So…I hear you juggle?"**

"What?"

He gave her a startled, inquisitive expression.

**"Yeah. According to Jin, you used to juggle in the circus before you got to Ba Sing Se. Let's see some juggling,"** she said, giving him a crooked smile.

He rolled his eyes and looked away sheepishly. She waited expectantly.

**"Been a while since you practiced, huh?"**

He narrowed his eyes.

**"Wait…did you-?"**

**"Uncle and I went out for dinner that night. Oddly enough, Uncle led us right to you guys."**

He palmed himself in the face in slow motion then ran his fingers down through his newly developing bangs.

**"Great."**

She smiled.  
**  
"I thought your act was very entertaining."  
**  
Later, having walked their way around town for a while, they climbed to the top of the hill where Kali had found Uncle crying weeks before. They sat together enjoying the light breeze over the hill for a while, talking idly. Kali stopped abruptly then and Zuko frowned worriedly at her.

**"Do you think…we'll actually last?"** she asked quietly. She felt sure this was the wrong time and the wrong place but this question had been bothering her for a few days now. They stared at each other, neither of them sure what to say next. When Zuko didn't answer, Kali finally looked away.

**"I'm sorry I asked. I've just…been thinking about it for a while. And after talking about Masami and my mom and stuff, I realized that I've managed to lose the only person I had left in this world. I don't know where she is and we're not getting any closer to finding her as far as I know,"** she got even quieter**, "We're not getting any closer to finding the Avatar either, are we?"**

He faced the ground.

**"No. We're not."  
**  
It was out there now. What both of them had worried about all along. Both of them had started their journey together with goals and both still had those goals, even though there was a lull in the action right now. And those goals were bound to take them apart. Minutes passed by and neither of them said anything. Finally, the silence was broken.

**"I don't want to think about it right now,"** said Zuko.

She turned to look at him in the darkness.

**"If not now, when? Masami was all I had before I met you and your uncle. And now…I don't want to lose you…"**

Zuko stared away.

**"I…I don't have an answer to that question and I'm…not even sure what I want right now. I'm…I'm not sure what to do about my destiny. And I don't want to think about it now."**

"You think it's set in stone? Just like that, you have no choice?"

"…"

She grew quiet again, knowing that in the end she would lose him. His destiny, what he believed to be his destiny…it was too much a part of him. How could she ever expect to be able to compete with that strong determined conviction he'd always displayed whenever talk of the Avatar and returning to the Fire Nation had occurred. She felt his hand grasp hers tightly.

**"I don't…know anymore…"** he said solemnly. She could see his silhouette turn in the darkness of the night.

**"What I do know, though,…"**

He leaned closer.  
**  
"…is that I want you in my destiny, whatever it is. I don't want to lose you either…"**

She was so shocked by this statement that he caught her completely unprepared with his kiss. When he spoke again after it, he sounded concerned, maybe even a little scared.

**"Did you really mean that? That you didn't…want to lose me?"**

"Yes."

Without proper warning, tears began falling from her eyes and she leaned into him, her head dropping onto his shoulder.

**"I did."**

He held her tightly against him. It was the first time she'd ever cried like this in front of him.

Late into the night, they arrived back in front of their apartment. As they were about to enter, Kali stopped.

**"I'm…not really ready to go in yet…"**

Zuko looked at her silently.

**"I think…I'll just go sit on the roof for a little while…"**

He nodded.

She sat on the roof, the evening chill in the air somehow helping to numb her, despite her turbulent feelings inside. What could they do? How could they ever possibly fix this to make things work out well for both of them? She sighed. Here she was again…asking herself questions about herself and Zuko she couldn't answer. Great Kali. Wait to handle the situation. Sometimes when she stopped to think about it, it terrified her how little control she really had over anything in this world. She'd never been one for believing in destiny, at least not in the way Zuko seemed to, but it was times like these that she couldn't help but wonder about it. Did she really have some set path in front of her with no other options actually available? That couldn't be, she thought, fiercely denying it inside her. Zuko had what he believed was a set destiny…yet he'd just now denied it in some small way, hadn't he? His faith in that destiny seemed to be fading. And he'd said that no matter what, he wanted her in his destiny. He wanted her to stay. That had to count for something. In the midst of her distressed state, Kali took comfort in the thought.

She heard a sound behind her and listened as the sound of Zuko's footsteps drew nearer until he sat down beside her. The silence ended when she kissed him. He kissed her back and drew her closer to him. She leaned back into him and further into the kiss. Her chest heaved as her breathing grew heavier. He was shirtless and she ran her hands softly down his chest, for the first time enjoying the toned quality of his muscles. It tickled evidently, as he seemed to choke slightly on their kiss in response. His hands glided down her back to hold her just above the waist. She released his mouth and, after pausing to stare into his eyes for a moment, slid down to his neck to grab a hold of it. He grunted in slight surprise and further tightened his hold on her as she began to bite down. Ultimately, it made going to bed worse than usual, as both of them were still unsure as to how far they were willing to go. And it provided Uncle with weeks' worth of teasing entertainment once he caught sight of the bruise on Zuko's neck the next day. But for both of them, right at that moment, it was just what they needed. And it felt great. Zuko shifted his hands tentatively to below her waist and adjusted his head a bit in order to bite her ear. It helped to muffle his grunts and distracted her slightly from her business of bruising him. Whatever destiny or any other strange invisible forces might have in store for them, right now, right here, they still had each other.


	17. That's Not A Peanut, It's Appa!

Masami and Aang had risen early in the morning. Today was finally the day they would go look for Appa. Aang was very excited as he hopped out of bed, and ran towards the bathroom for a shower. Masami rolled from bed slowly, and she lazily pushed open the bathroom door and went in for her shower. When she emerged after dressing, Aang was slowly slipping into his shirt. She smirked, and snuck up behind him, quickly assaulting his sides before he could move out of the way.

He let out a howl of laughter, and squirmed around, trying to get out of her grasp. As he did, He backed towards their bed, and he felt himself fall back onto it, holding his hands in front of himself.

"**Masami! No! Please!"** He cried as she jumped atop him, and went after his sides again. He thrashed around beneath her, and she laughed as his face began to grow red from laughter. She let up for a second, and he leaned up to grab her lips before she could attack his sides again. Her hands fell to the bed, and she smiled into his lips. He flipped them before she even knew it was happening, and she looked surprised, her brown eyes wide. He smiled lightly, and leaned down again.

Eventually they were able to pick themselves up and Aang was able to get his shirt on. They moved hand in hand through Ba Sing Se, and into shop after shop to see if anyone could help with Appa posters, and were finally able to find a place. As the man assured them the posters would be perfect, he handed them off to someone in the back of the store. Something about the brief second Masami was actually able to see the person caught her off guard and was familiar, but before she could think about it, Aang was pulling her out of the shop so they could go get some food while they waited.

After a nice lunch, they returned to the printer, and the posters were finished. They looked fantastic! Aang paid the man, thanked him many times, and they returned to the house. As they entered the door, Aang ran forward, holding papers towards Sokka, Emi and Toph. Sokka laid on the floor, scribbling something, Emi slept by his side, and Toph lazed in the sun.

"**We found a printer to make our posters!"** Aang announced excitedly.

**"Hey, I thought designing "the lost Appa poster" was my job. I've been working all day on my Appa."** Sokka cried, holding up the scribbling. Masami cocked her head to the side.

"**Sokka, that's a peanut with a crack in it, how does that help us?"** Masami asked. Sokka looked offended.

"**That is no peanut, it's Appa!"** He defended.

**"Sokka, the arrow is on Appa's head."** Aang added.

**"This IS his head."** Sokka snapped again.

"**Why are feet coming out of it?"** Aang asked.

**"Those are his horns! I haven't seen him awhile ok?"** He sighed, defeatedily. Emi, having been woken up when they entered the room, patted his leg.

"**I could tell they were his horns."** Emi smiled.

**"It looks **_**just**_** like him to me."** Toph added, Masami smirked. Emi nodded, then her felt her face fall.

**"Thank you, I worked really**_**…**_**why do feel the need to do that?"** Sokka asked flatly.

"**Let's just stick with the professional version."** Masami urged. Aang pulled the signs from his pockets as Sokka growled and ripped up all his drawings. He tossed them to the side, and grabbed some of the others, heading for the door.

**" Come on, let's get busy!"** Aang cried, running out the door, being trailed by Momo.

XOXO

Kali stared down at the extra copy of the poster she and the other apprentices had finished printing for Master Karim this morning. On it was a very familiar large hairy animal. A sky bison. She was disappointed she hadn't been able to see the person who ordered them. She was sure she already knew them. Master Karim insisted the apprentices stay in the back and any apprentice who dared to go to the front when the master was there would face dire consequences. If only she'd been able to sneak past him. The Avatar! In Ba Sing Se, right under Zuko's nose! And if he was here, that would mean Masami was in Ba Sing Se too! Part of her was really excited. She would finally get to see her sister again, if she could just find out where they were living. The other part of her, however, was…upset. She was actually starting to get used to living here…with Uncle…and Zuko. She was actually…happy like this. She'd even gotten a job doing something artistic. She'd always wanted that. But…she wanted Masami to be a part of it. It wasn't the same without her. With the Avatar here though…Zuko would never rest once he found out. Everything they'd started to have in Ba Sing Se would be, well, ruined. He'd go right back to being just as he'd been before. Obsessed with capturing the Avatar and regaining his honor. She'd lose him. Later, as she walked home that afternoon after having lunch with Jin, whom she was now rather good friends with, she saw the posters all over town. She'd never be able to hide it from Zuko. As she reached their apartment and opened the door, she knew it was over. He'd know.

Zuko stared down at the poster in his hand as he headed back towards the apartment. He'd looked around for a while for its source. Unable to find it, he'd returned to the tea shop and quit. The Avatar…here in Ba Sing Se! How could he have been here all this time and Zuko not have known about it? Zuko scowled fiercely, disappointed with himself. He'd almost been ready…to give up. But now, he had another chance. A chance to finally restore his honor. A chance to get out of this platypus bear snare of a city and finally go home. He could still prove himself to the people of the Fire Nation…and to his father. These thoughts lent a new energy to his step and the old fierce determination which had kept him going for the past three years returned. Now was the time to complete his quest, once and for all.

XOXO

Masami had finished her flyer duty, and she headed home. As she entered the door, she bleched as Sokka had Emi on a table, and they were practically going at it like Rabbiroos! Toph looked mildly peeved and kicked a ball into the wall to keep herself occupied. Masami stomped up the stairs to create a distraction. When it did nothing, she kicked Sokka's knees where he had been leaning Emi, and he screamed, falling to the floor just as Aang entered the house.

**"I just finished dropping all the leaflets. Has anyone come in with news about Appa?"** He asked. Emi picked herself up,

"**It's only been a day, just be patient."** She smiled, wiping her mouth and helping Sokka up. She fixed her dress as Aang nodded, dropping to the floor and putting his head on his elbows. A moment later, there was a small knock on the door.

**"****Wow, you're right! Patience really pays off!"** Aang cried, running towards the door. He pulled it open and stopped.

"**Joo Dee?"** He asked, perplexed. Everyone looked towards the door, and approached slowly.

**"Hello, Aang and Masami and Sokka and Toph."** She greeted.

**"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?"** Sokka inquired.

**"What, jail ? Of course not. The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage."** She dismissed. None of them bought that.

**"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party."** Toph argued.

**"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country. It was quite relaxing."** She assured them, though no one believed it.

**"But then they replaced you with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee."** Masami argued.

**"**_**I'm**_** Joo Dee."** She assured,

"**No shit."** Masami added snidely.

**"Why are you here?"** Aang asked, hand on the door.

**"Dropping flyers and putting up posters isn't permitted within the city. Not without proper clearance."** She informed them, shocking! Them breaking rules? Gasp! Masami rolled her eyes,

**"We can't wait around to get permission for everything."** Sokka snapped, clearly as put out as everyone else.

**"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."** She repeated. And, before anyone else could say anything, Aang snapped.

"**WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES, AND WE'RE NOT ASKING PERMISSON! We're finding Appa on our own and **_**you**_** should just stay out of our way!"** He screamed, slamming the door in her face.

**"That might come back to bite us in the blubber."** Sokka said, his hand to his chin thoughtfully. Everyone shrugged.

"**I don't care. From now on we do whatever it takes to find Appa."** Aang snapped. Masami agreed, though with that outburst had a fear she'd rubbed off on docile little Aang. Then, all eyes went to Toph as she screamed,

**"YEAH! Let's break some rules!"** As she used earthbending to blow a rather large hole in the wall. Masami rolled her eyes, but they had better things to worry about then the hole in the wall. Masami heard something behind them, and looked towards the hole, there was a paper flapping from one of the rock fragments. Masami walked slowly, and it was one of their Appa posters, on the back, there was very formal handwriting. The note said,

'Beware of the Dai Lee, Joo Dee, Lake Laogai, and anyone and everyone. I'll be in touch, and if push comes to shove, I have you.

_-A'_

Masami knew that somewhat cryptic message was from their Guardian of sorts, and she knew, she was thankful to have her. Though, the group didn't know how much Ariana was risking to help them, as she had just been seen, unbeknownst to them; and to her.

XOXO

Kali was surprised to see Uncle home already when she arrived, apparently packing things.

**"Uncle, what's going on? Aren't you supposed to be working through dinner time?"**

**"Not anymore!" **he said, smiling radiantly at her and rushing  
forward to give her a big hug, "**I OWN MY OWN TEA SHOP NOW!"**

Kali was startled to say the least. For a moment, she almost forgot about the posters.

**"That's wonderful! But…how did this happen?"**

**"Well, you see, I had just served this nice man and-"**

Just as he began to explain, however, Zuko walked in. Kali's thoughts flew to the posters again. Uncle greeted Zuko.

**"So, I was just telling Kali the great news! And I've been thinking about names for the tea shop. I think I've found a good one."**

He spread out his arms for dramatic effect, looking at both of them.

**"How about 'The Jasmine Dragon'? It's dramatic, poetic, and has a nice ring to it."**

**"That sounds like a great name to me, Uncle,"** Kali said, trying to sound enthusiastic but distracted by the expression on Zuko's face and the paper in his hand.

**"The Avatar is in Ba Sing Se," **Zuko announced, flipping the poster to show them, **"And he's lost his bison."**

Uncle's face dropped and he became serious at once as he took the poster from Zuko.

**"We have a chance for a new life here,"** he said solemnly as Zuko walked over to stare out of the window, **"If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us."**

Zuko spun around so quickly, Kali actually flinched slightly in surprise.

**"Good things that are happening for you! Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"**

He glared angrily at Uncle, who responded calmly.

**"Zuko. There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest that you think about what it is that you want for your life and why."**

Zuko, who's face had temporarily softened a bit as he looked at Kali, turned back to face the window.

**"I want my destiny,"** he growled fiercely. It was just as Kali'd feared. He really was back to his old self, it seemed. He'd seemed so unsure of his destiny a few days ago…but not anymore.

**"What that means is up to you,"** said Uncle wisely, as Zuko wandered off to his and Kali's room.

**"The Tea Weevil!"** shouted Uncle suddenly and Kali looked at him bewildered.

**"No that's stupid," **Uncle said, more to himself than Kali, looking disgusted. She realized he must have been talking about his new shop. How could he still be thinking about that? She debated whether to go after Zuko but decided against it and sat down in the kitchen, wondering what to do now. She smiled bitterly to herself.

"More from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea" was what he'd said. She didn't even make the cut for what he'd wanted more from life than. No honorable mention for her. She stared at the red glowing eyes of Uncle's little statue and found herself wondering at his sudden change from what he'd come to be like before today. She'd expected it but somehow, at the same time, hadn't been prepared for it. He'd gotten to the point where he was acting more like…like he was actually comfortable living as they were. Sure, it'd been obvious he was still unsure about it but they'd seemed to be making progress anyway. Now she couldn't help but feel like she'd imagined it all. She looked up as a hand touched her shoulder.

**"Don't take it personally,**" Uncle said gently, **"He did not mean to ignore what you've done for him."**

She frowned slightly, confused. She hadn't done any more for him than Uncle had.

**"I know. I guess, really, I shouldn't be any more upset than you. After all, you've been there for him more than I've even come close to being."**

Uncle nodded.

**"Perhaps, but I do not think that I could have gotten him to the point of changing as much as he has since you two started dating. I have not seen him so…free in a long time. And certainly not as comfortably close to anyone as he has been with you."**

Kali said nothing and stared at the door to their room. She thought back to the different times they'd had since they'd first dated. Good and bad…but mostly good. They'd been real, she hadn't imagined them. She thought again of a few days ago when they'd been talking about his destiny. He hadn't seemed so sure about what it was then but one thing he had seemed certain about (so certain, she'd been stunned) was that he wanted her in his destiny. She felt the same way and she'd didn't want him in her destiny as the guy who took her sister's boyfriend away from her. She wanted him to stay with her. She glanced up at Uncle, who looked concerned.

**"Please don't give up on him yet, Kali," **he said.

She stared back at him with a determined expression.

**"I won't."**

XOXO

The group decided it was probably best to split up; they would cover more area like that. Emi went with Masami, Aang went alone and Toph with Sokka; a bender to each person they figured was the safest. Masami and Emi walked slowly, and hung posters as they went. Neither heard the male approaching from behind them.

"**Masami?"** They heard as someone came from an alley behind them. They whipped around, and Masami stared, flabbergasted for a moment.

"**I think I can help you."** He said with a smile Masami narrowed her eyes.

**"I don't think we need **_**your kind**_** of help Jet."** She said, turning them again.

**"Masami! You know I never would have hurt those people!"** He assured her, getting closer, and touching her shoulder. She looked back towards him.

**"Do I? How do I know that for sure? Where's Katara? Dump her for some other girl?"** She asked peevishly.

"**You know I wouldn't do that!"** He assured her. She rolled her eyes.

"**Really?"**

"**Katara?"** Emi asked, **"Sokka's sister?"** Masami nodded, and they all turned as Sokka and Toph started to return.

**"Masami, what is it?"** He asked

"**Jet's back."** She informed him, pointing.

"**Where's Katara?"** Sokka asked, **"Why are you here?"** He asked again, getting closer,

**"I'm here to help you find Appa. And she's back at the apartment, I promise."** He said, his head low. Just then, Aang landed beside Sokka. He seemed confused, looking to Jet.

"**Why're you here?"** He solicited.

"**Good to see you too."** Jet griped, though he produced on of their flyers**. **

"**I'm here to help find Appa."** Aang smiled, nodding. Masami looked to Toph,

"**How do we know that?"** She asked, looking back towards Jet. She didn't hate him, but she wasn't letting Aang get hurt by another false lead.

"**He's not lying."** Toph assured.

**"How can you tell?"** Emi asked, cocking her head to the left.

**"I can feel his breathing and heart beat. When people lie, there is a physical reaction. He's telling the truth."** Toph assured again. They had no reason not to believe him, so they agreed once he proved Katara was all right, they would go with him to look for Appa.

He confirmed Katara was all right, and she happily joined them. The group was shocked to find out his little posse' had gone their separate ways once they reached the city, he and Katara seemed really happy, and Masami was very glad for that. Katara deserved it. They walked towards a dimly lit warehouse, and entered slowly. There was no Appa, but there was evidence he had been there.

**"This is the place I heard about."** Jet told everyone as they began to fan out and look.

"**There's nothing here."** Aang said sadly, everyone looked to Jet for some sort of elucidation.

"**I work nearby. Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had. I figured it must be Appa."** He explained. They nodded, and it was confirmed as Toph shouted,

**"He was here!"** And she held up a fist full of white hair as the others ran to her side.

_**"**_**We missed him."** Aang sighed. Just then, a man came behind them, and started rambling.

_**"**_**They took that big thing yesterday. Shipped him out to some island. About time, I've been cleaning up fur and various, uh leavings all day**_**." **_The janitor informed them.

"**What island! Where's Appa?"** Aang cried, running after the sweeping old man.

**"Foreman said some rich royal type on Whaletail Island bought him up, guess for a zoo or such, though could be the meat would be good."** He explained further.

**"We've gotta get to Whaletail Island. Where's whale tail island?"** Aang asked anxiously.

**"Far. Very far. Here it is. It's near the South Pole almost all the way back home."** He said glumly, putting the map on the floor and pointing.

_**"**_**Aang, It'll take us weeks just to get to the tip of the earth kingdom. And then we'll need to find a boat to get to the island."** Sokka said sadly. Everyone looked at the ground.

**"I don't care. We have a chance to find Appa. We have to try."** Aang cried as they all rushed off.

"**All right, let's get moving."** Sokka said as they did, Katara and Jet in tow. As they got back towards the direction they'd come. As they had time to stop, Sokka spoke,

**"We can take the train out to the wall, but then we'll have to walk."** Sokka said realistically.

**"Don't worry, on the way back, we'll be flying!"** Aang said happily. Toph acted overly dramatic, but everyone else was thinking it too.

**"We're finally leaving Ba Sing Se. Worst city ever!"** She cried, throwing her arms out to the side. Just then, there was a disturbance from their side,

**"****Jet! Katara!" **A small girl cried, Masami remembered her as part of his gang.

"**I thought you said you didn't have your gang anymore?"** Masami asked with her lips pursed.

**"****I don't."** He said, looking down at the girl with a blank look. Smellerbee threw herself onto him, and he looked rather displeased.

_**"**_**We were so worried. How did you get away from the Dai Li?"** She asked hurriedly.

**"The Dai Li!"** Katara asked, horribly confused.

**"I don't know what she's talking about?"** He assured, looking to Katara to see if she had any ideas, but she didn't.

"**They got arrested by the Dai Li a couple weeks ago. We saw them drag them away."** Smellerbee told them.

**"Why would we be arrested? We've been living peacefully in the city." **Katara argued.

"**This doesn't make any sense. They're **_**all **_**telling the truth."** She couldn't make sense of it.

**"That's impossible, isn't it?"** Emi asked.

**"No, it's not. Toph can't tell who's lying because they **_**all **_**think they're telling the truth. They've been brainwashed."** Sokka concluded, point dramatically.

XOXO

Zuko'd been gone for a while and Kali was just beginning to worry that he'd found the Avatar when he returned, carrying…something.

**"What is that?"** she asked, squinting down at the heap of what appeared to be cloth and straw. Zuko sat it down on the table in front of her.

**"I need your help,"** he said, looking at her calmly and ignoring her question, **"I need you to sew this up."  
**  
Kali raised an eyebrow.

**"But what is it?"**

**"It's an old stage dummy someone threw away. Will you fix it for me?"**

Kali furrowed her brow.

**"Why do you need it?"**

**"Will you please just do it? I need it…for an experiment I'm going to try tonight."**

Kali frowned and looked down at it.

**"I…guess I can do a quick sewing job on it."**

**"Thanks,"** he said then started toward their room.

**"Zuko."**

He turned to look back at her.

**"This has to do with the Avatar, doesn't it?"**

He looked away then continued into the room without another word. She sewed up the dummy reluctantly, frowning. It looked way too familiar. Fixing it didn't take too long and, after finishing, she stood and slid open the door. He had changed into another set of clothes. His Blue Spirit clothes. She stood blocking the doorway.

**"Zuko. This is a bad idea."**

He stared at her.

**"Kali, I have to do this."**

**"No, you don't. You-"  
**  
Kali was cut short by the sound of someone falling down the stairs outside their apartment.

**"UUAAAGH!"**

**"That sounded like Uncle," she said worriedly, then glanced back at Zuko, "I'll be right back. We're not done here."**

She rushed out into the hallway and found that Uncle had tripped on his way up the stairs. He'd left earlier to inspect the building his new sponsor Quon was providing him with to be used for his tea shop. She helped him up. Upon arriving at their apartment, Kali prepared to finish the confrontation. Entering the room, she scowled, partly out of surprise. Zuko was gone and so was his stage dummy.

**"Oh no."**

She hurried over to the windows, one of which was open. He must have climbed down using the window ledges, she thought. There was no way he'd snuck past them on the stairs. She turned back to Uncle, who looked confused.  
**  
"Something wrong, Kali?"**

**"It's Zuko. I'm not sure what he's going to do exactly but he's going after the Avatar or his bison tonight. That much I'm sure of."**

Uncle scowled then sighed.

**"We must find him before he does something we will all regret."**

They hurried outside.

**"How are we going to find him?"** asked Kali.

**"How do you think he plans to find the Avatar's bison?"** Uncle asked.

She thought about it for a moment. How would he do that? Uncle seemed to think about it as well. They looked up as someone passed them in the street and the backed away quickly. A Dai Li agent. Everyone knew better than to get on their bad side. They were the ones who'd dragged away Jet and Katara and Kali had seen a few other people disappear into their carts as well. They seemed to be everywhere. Kali had felt eyes on her more than once and it was the main thing about this city that made her uncomfortable. Despite everything good about Ba Sing Se, the Dai Li made the city feel not quite right. After the man had passed, Kali and Uncle exchanged looks.

**"The Dai Li?"** asked Kali quietly, **"Surely, the Avatar must have put some effort into finding his bison already. If he can't find him simply by asking the right people, maybe someone doesn't want him to find him. Think it's them?"**

Uncle nodded.

**"If there is anyone who knows what is other people's business here, it is them. Zuko knows this as well as you and I."**

Kali looked back to where the Dai Li agent had gone uneasily.

**"We find the bison and Zuko through the agent then?"**

Uncle nodded again. Wordlessly, they moved to catch up with the agent. Kali could only hope they were right and this would lead them to Zuko and not just into trouble.

XOXO

He had been brainwashed, Katara as well. They interviewed them briefly back at the home of the three Freedom Fighters that remained together, and they could tell them a few things. Something about a huge lake, and with a few slaps to the face, Jet confirmed the lake was the same place Joo Dee had spoken of, Lake Laogai. The next thing the group did was head towards the walls of the city, the hills surrounding the lake made for a rather "nice" hike. Nice in the bad sense of the word. Rocks were slick, and falling was easy to do.

Jet had told them of a secret place, so that's why they came here. They saw nothing though, so they turned to the only sources of information they had.

**"So where's this secret headquarters?"** Sokka asked.

**"Under the lake I think**." Jet answered, scratching his head.

**"There's a tunnel right there near the shore."** Toph confirmed, pointing to the shore. Everyone looked as Toph moved towards the water. She jumped lightly, bringing her weight down into a powerful earthbending move. A stone path came from the water and at the end was a hole of some kind, covered with a large rock. Toph went on to move the rock top to the side, exposing a dark passage. Everyone ventured towards it slowly, looking nervously back and forth between each other. Beneath the cover and the darkness, one could see a ladder, and a small bit of light coming from below. The group looked wary, but knew they had to go down there. They all slowly descended into the darkness. Once at the bottom, Masami looked around, and grabbed Aang's hand for some security. He smiled, and squeezed her hand lightly.

As they formed a makeshift line, Jet took the lead.

**"****It's all starting to come back to me."** He said, looking back towards them. The group moved quietly passed a few open doorways, looking into one. There was a man, looked to be a Dai Li agent, talking to a group of women who all looked a bit out of it.

_**"**_**I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se."** He said to them.

**"I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se."** They all repeated together.

**"We are so lucky to have our walls to create order."** The man went on to say.

_**"**_**We are so lucky to have our walls to create order."** Masami could hear the women say as the group made her way down the hall. The sheer fact that Jet had been right made her shiver, not that he was correct, but that people could actually live like this. She knew there were reasons she'd never wanted to come here.

**"I think there might be a cell big enough to hold Appa up ahead."** He suggested, as the group move down the hall a bit more, he stopped. _**"**_**I****think it's through here."** He said, pointing. The boys moved forward to help Jet slide the large door open. The group entered slowly, cautiously. They could not see the Dai Li above them, but they were there, watching their every move.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut. They jumped around to face it, as the room fell to darkness. Masami didn't like this. She readied herself for a fight, when a fire in the other corner went ablaze, and caught their attention. Before it, stood Long Feng, and they could see the Dai Li before them.

"**Now that's something different."** Sokka said, being cut off by Long Feng.

**"You have made yourselves enemies of the state. Take them into custody."** Long Feng declared, and the Dai Li advanced on them. They encircled the group, and some of them launched stone fists towards them. Toph stopped them mid-flight with her bending abilities, and send the men flying across the room with pillars of rocks.

Jet moved to attack a group that came after Katara and himself. He pulled his weapons(crowbars) and he hacked the agents rock fists to dust. He then slide along the ground, knock one agent off his feet, and catching the other by the neck and flipping him over onto his back harshly. Aang dealt with another pair of agents with a blast of air, then sent them flying by elevating the ground beneath them.

Masami turned as 2 came at her and Emi. She brought water from her side pouch and shielded them from the fists with a icy covering. When the fists smashed the ice, she broke it apart further, and sent the shards towards the men, pinning their clothes to the walls behind them. Sokka smashed two more projectiles being sent towards the group, and they all backed up together, watching around them.

The fight seemed endless, though it was going to be over sooner then they thought. Emi moved too far to one side, and the Dai Li snagged her hands. Sokka moved to free her, and he nearly got caught himself. He grabbed her, and pulled her back towards the group. Toph rose a pillar of rock, and took out a few above her, and nearly got herself snagged as well when she tripped, but Jet snagged her belt and tugged her back towards the group like Emi had been.

It seemed Long Feng got bored watching the fight, so he decided to bolt.

_**"**_** Long Feng is escaping!"** Aang screamed, making off after him. Jet took off after Aang, closely followed by Katara and Masami. Aang blew the stone door of the room open, and the group race down a large passageway in pursuit of the man. Long Feng turns a corner before them, and they run in the room after him. The room looked much like the other had, and just as before, the aggressor dropped form the ceiling, and sealed off the door.

_**"**_**Alright Avatar, you've caused me enough problems. This is your last chance, if you want your bison back."** Long Feng growled.

"**You **_**do**_** have Appa. Tell me where he is!"** Aang snarled in return, stepping forward.

**"Agree to exit the city now, and I'll waive all charges against you and allow you to leave with your lost pet."** Long Feng returned.

**"You're in no position to bargain."** Jet snapped, raising his swords.

**"Am I not?"** the man asked haughtily.

**"You're definitely not!"** Masami barked from behind them, raising her water as Aang brandished his staff.

**"Jet; Katara, The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."** The man said suddenly. Jet and Katara looked blankly,

**"I am honored to except his invitation."** They said together. Masami looked to Aang for some sort of clarification, but none came. What did come was a rather violent outburst from both Katara and Jet, towards Aang and Masami. Jet raised his swords towards Aang's neck, slashing at him. Aang jumped away, and looked up at Jet incredulously.

Masami screamed as Katara began to raise her hands towards her, her water whip out. Last Masami checked, Katara was no good, but that had been a while ago, and Masami couldn't say she was in the mood to find out of that had changed or not. She brought her water in front of her defensively, her arms getting the brunt of the whips. She winced,

"**Katara! Stop this!"** She cried, stumbling backwards. As Katara loomed over her, she brought her water over herself and froze it, She could hear Katara slashing as the ice above her, and she could see cracks forming. She suddenly broke the ice, encircled Katara, and closed it around her. She could see Katara struggling, but the girl was held off for the time being. She glanced over her shoulder to see how Aang was doing.

"**Jet, it's me Aang! You don't have to do this."** Aang cried, backing away from Jet. It was obvious Aang had no desire to hurt him.

"**I'm afraid they no longer has a choice."** Long Feng taunted, as Katara broke free. Masami whipped the ice back into water, and she slammed Katara with a wave, washing her back into a wall. Katara oofed, and fell over to her knees. In the other fight, Aang shot Jet back towards a wall, and Jet dragged his double swords on the ground to slow himself.

_**"**_**Jet, I'm your friend! Look inside your heart!"** Aang cried, wanting this to stop.

**"Do your duty Jet."** Long Feng stated matterohfactly.

**"He can't make you do this! You're a Freedom Fighter."** Aang cried. Jet stopped, seemingly more conflicted then he'd been before.

_**"**_**Do it! Do it now!"** Long Feng cried angrily. As he did, Jet spun towards Long Feng, and screamed madly, throwing one of his swords at the man's head. The sword stuck in the wall behind Long Feng. Long Feng narrowed his eyes, and he stomped, waving his arms. The ground shook lightly, and there was a loud crack, and then the room fell silent.

XOXO

It'd taken a little work to persuade the Dai Li agent to talk but after a little convincing from Uncle, he'd talked and told them of a secret base under a lake known as Lake Laogai not too far away from the city. It was times like that Kali found herself keenly aware of the fact that Uncle had formerly been a powerful general for the Fire Nation. You didn't get the title Dragon of the West from just drinking tea and giving good advice. They figured out where Lake Laogai was and headed there quickly, passing what appeared to be another knocked out agent partly hidden behind some trash cans. Zuko's work they guessed. On their way there, a question that had been bothering Kali for a long time finally came out.

**"Uncle, whose side are you on?"**

**"What do you mean?"**

**"The war. It's just, you've never really seemed to want Zuko to capture the Avatar but I know you want the best for him. So, why is that?"**

Uncle was silent for a little while.  
**  
"I do want the best for him. I do not think, however, that going back to Ozai is right for him. My brother…has never loved him, as one should his child. As for the war and the Avatar, I believe that balance must be restored. The world was never meant to be ruled by one nation or to be so war-torn as it is now. It is my sincere hope that the Avatar restores the necessary balance."**

**"Then why not do something before? Why not help the Avatar and convince Zuko to give up his quest?"**

**"I have been trying to convince him of that gradually but these things cannot be accomplished all at once. You know that. It has taken a long time for Zuko to reach the point he is at now even. I have never wanted him to fulfill this quest he sees as destiny, but I have not stopped him from pursuing it because he would leave me if I tried to do so openly. Until now, I have merely been trying to make sure he stays safe and to encourage him slowly to realize that which I am sure he already knows but won't admit. The Fire Nation has been wrong to seek this war and the power that comes through it. We need the Avatar. We need this war to end in peace."**

After a good long hike down to the lake, they searched for the secret entrance the Dai Li agent had mentioned. Finding it, they snuck in quietly and moved through it swiftly. On their way they passed a room of prison cells, one of which contained a panicking old man apparently by the name of Pong who insisted he was innocent of whatever it was the Dai Li was charging him with, and a room containing several women who appeared to being brainwashed by a Dai Li agent. All of them were under the impression their name was Joo Dee and Ba Sing Se was a wonderful city. This was getting very disturbing, Kali thought, as they got further into the large underground base. The Dai Li were even more sinister than she'd imagined. They froze as they saw what looked like a woman and a bear whizz past an entrance, so fast Kali thought she might have imagined it for a moment. They peaked inside different rooms, looking for Zuko and the bison until, finally, they found the room. They could hear the bison roaring and stomping the ground behind it. Nodding at each other, they opened it and closed it quickly behind them, Kali ready to fight just in case. But the fight would not be a physical one.

The Blue Spirit turned, preparing for a fight as well, but found himself surprised.

**"Uncle? Kali?"**

Uncle feigned ignorance.

**"So, the Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask…what do you think, Kali?"**

Kali didn't answer as Zuko removed his mask, sighing slightly.

**"What are you doing here?"**

**"I was just about to ask you the same thing,"** his uncle replied, stepping forward, **"What do you plan to do now that you have found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?"  
**  
Kali heard something in Uncle's voice she had rarely heard. It sounded like anger and there was an unusual kind of tension building in his words.

Zuko ignored it and turned back to the bison, whose name he recalled to be Appa.

**"First I have to get it out of here."**

**"And THEN WHAT?"** shouted Uncle, suddenly releasing the tension Kali'd picked up on. She was startled, despite herself. Uncle gestured angrily.

**"You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!"**

**"I would have figured something out!"** Zuko shouted back frantically.

**"NO! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!"** shouted Uncle, his voice loaded with emotion.

**"I know my own destiny, Uncle,"** Zuko said, dismayed. His uncle, in all their time together after Zuko's banishment, had never acted this way. Never had he shouted so forcefully at Zuko. To see Uncle Iroh act so disturbed him greatly.

**"Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?"** Uncle pressed fiercely.

**"Stop it, Uncle! I have to do this!"** cried out Zuko in a panicked voice, turning away. Why? Why would Uncle do this? He had no choice! This was the only way! Everything he'd worked for would be lost if he didn't do this now!

**"I'm BEGGING YOU, Prince Zuko!"** continued Uncle vehemently, **"It's time for you to look inward, and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? And what do you want?"  
**  
Zuko choked and let out a loud cry of frustration, hurling his swords and mask to the floor as he dropped to his knees. He had to do this. He had a destiny…there really was no choice…was there? He sat there, emotions threatening to rip him apart as he struggled to get a grip on what to do. Images of people flew through his mind. Father, Uncle, Azula, Kali, the Avatar...He trembled for a moment then clasped his head in his hands, his teeth clenched tightly. What did he want? There'd never seemed to be a doubt until recently and now…he shook his head and clasped it harder, trying to make sense of it all. What did he want?

XOXO

"**Foolish boy. You've chosen your own demise."** Long Feng snarled as he started to bolt. The dust cleared as he rose towards a dark passageway in the ceiling. There was a large snarling, a scream of pain, and a loud crash as Long Feng fell back to the ground harshly.

"**Going somewhere?"** Ariana cooed, from behind a large cover of rocks she'd used to stop the attack on Jet.

"**Ariana!"** Aang cried happily, making sure Jet was all right.

"**I told you I had you."** She said looking over her shoulder lightly with a small smile.

"**You treacherous miscreant!"** Long Feng cried as he picked himself up. She smirked, bringing her arms before her, thrusting them out quickly, sending not only her rock wall towards him, but also the one he'd tried to injure Jet with towards him. He destroyed them, and acted as though he were going to bolt through the same hole he'd tried to previously.

"**I wouldn't."** She cautioned. **"Baba is in a relatively snippy mood today, you could lose a finger."** She smirked,

"**Baba?"** Aang asked warily.

"**My bear, a gift from Kuei."** She explained, never dropping her fighting stance. One could tell she was visibly shaken, but she was doing well to hold her own. Long Feng made his own door, and escaped before anyone could do anything to stop him. As he did, Ariana dropped her stance, and looked back towards the Avatar and the other boy.

"**Thank you…"** Jet breathed, mildly traumatized.

"**Don't mention it."** She answered swiftly. She looked as the doors opened, and the other kids entered.

**"What happened in here?"** Sokka asked,

"**Where's Long Feng?"** Emi asked, looking around lightly,

"**He escaped."** Ariana spoke harshly.

"**You have to go after him if you want your Bison back. Baba and I will be fine, you all get out of here."** Ariana commanded, looking towards Masami, Aang, Katara and Jet; then the others. Aang nodded, and they all moved towards the door, as Ariana made a large pillar of earth to lift herself to the opening Long Feng had been knocked out of.

**"S****he's lying."** Toph said sadly. Masami dropped her gaze, she didn't like the idea of something happening to Ariana, but it was her own choice, there was nothing any of them could do.

The crowd ran down a hallway, faster then they knew was possible as a group. They slid a cell door open, and there were 6 manacles on the floor, though they were empty.

**"Appa's gone. Long Feng beat us here."** Aang whispered sadly

**"If we keep moving, maybe we can catch up to him."** Sokka reasoned, his hand on Aang's shoulder. Aang looked up and nodded. The group ran off once again, Toph giving them directions back to the surface. As they reached the ladder, they all climbed after Toph blew the rock off the top. They climbed out, and ran down the path a ways, soon to be stuck between Dai Li agents, a rock face, and water.  
**  
**_**"**_**Do you think we can out run them?"** Sokka asked in reference to the Dai Li behind them.

**"I don't think it's gonna matter."** Aang said, pointing ahead of them where more Dai Li had appeared, along with Long Feng. The Dai Li made a move to create a large wall below the feet of themselves and Long Feng; as did the ones behind them. They were trapped. They all backed into each other, and didn't know what was going to happen now, but they feared it wasn't good.

Though, everything seemed to change in their favor once Momo reappeared for the first time since they'd entered the building under the lake. He flew out of the sky, and landed on Aang, motioning to the sky and chittering loudly.

_**"**_**What is it Momo?"** He asked, perplexed by the animal's behavior. Before there was any response, Momo took off again, flying at Long Feng's face, then dodging it and flying right into the sun. Everyone looked up and squinted, and Masami felt her heart jump into her throat when Aang cried,

_**"**_**Appa!"** As the large sky bison roared towards them, smashing the walls surround in his wake. The agents fell; some to the ground and some to the water. Once the Dai Li were shaken, the group knew it was time to make their move. Aang and Toph used earthbending together to smash another of the perches of the Dai Li as Appa doubled back, landing angrily before Long Feng.

_**"**_**I can handle you by myself."** Long Feng snapped at Appa, as he reached out to launch a kick of sorts at him, Appa snagged the man's leg in his teeth. He shook him around a few times, and launched him into the water, skipping him as though he were a small stone. Appa then spit out the man's shoe.

The group all launched themselves at Appa the first chance they got. Sokka grabbed his leg, along with Emi.

"**Yeah! Appa!"** Sokka cried, Masami had the side of his face, Aang jumped right onto him, and even the Freedom fighters hugged the large animal. Toph stroked his nose gently, and everyone looked up as Aang spoke,

"**I ****missed you, buddy."** Aang felt a few tears slip down his face as he hugged the bison, but he didn't care. He had missed him, more then he knew possible.

XOXO

Kali was thrilled. Zuko…had actually let the sky bison go! He, she, and Uncle had made short work of the chains and the bison had been able to fly up through the hole in the roof. It'd been a tight squeeze but the huge creature had been able to break his way through. Kali and Iroh had both smiled, watching him fly away. Zuko had watched him more solemnly, obviously still unsure whether he'd made the right decision. There was little time for celebration or second thoughts, however, as they suddenly heard the sounds of a fight nearby.

**"We'd better get moving,"** said Uncle.

**"Agreed,"** said Kali. Zuko seemed not to hear them for a moment, so Kali reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him along until he responded. They hurried back to the door quickly and the three of them crowded to peak through it. There was that lady with the bear again and they watched as the two of them plowed right through a pair of Dai Li agents.

**"It's DEFINITELY time to get out of here,"** said Uncle as they rushed out of the room and started back down the hallway they'd followed to get to Appa's chamber. As they turned a corner, they found themselves face to face with several of the Dai Li. Zuko and Kali, swords drawn already, jumped them quickly before they could do anything, kicking and striking out with their swords. Uncle hit a pair of them over the head with a nearby rock and the three of them kept on moving. Finding themselves blocked by the sudden appearance of a new wall, they dodged into yet another room, shutting the door quickly. Unfortunately, it happened to be the room with the Joo Dees. Zuko, Kali, and Uncle stared at the roomful of freakishly happy looking women staring back at them. For a moment, the women all stood there like statues, large fake smiles frozen on their faces. The three trespassers stood silently, listening as the Dai Li agents outside ran past and sounds of a fight continued. After a minute or two, Kali couldn't help herself.

**"Okay this is just creepy,"** she muttered out of the side of her mouth to the others, feeling like she'd rather go outside and fight the Dai Li then keep having a staring match with several women with huge smiles and big eyes. Something about that apparently set the Joo Dees off.

**"Hello, I'm Joo Dee,"** they all said in unison. Kali thought she recognized one of them as the lady who'd helped them when they'd first moved in.

**"Welcome to our wonderful city."**

Kali, Zuko, and Uncle all exchanged looks.

**"We're so lucky to have our walls to create order."**

Suddenly, all the women started forward towards them.

**"Come with me now,"** they all said and suddenly it was becoming way too crowded near that door. Kali, now thoroughly creeped out and becoming even more upset as the various Joo Dees began grabbing them, yelled,

**"Get the HELL AWAY FROM ME!"**

They busted out of the door and, seeing that a big hole had been blown in the most recent wall, leapt through it, followed by the Joo Dees. They found themselves unable to find the right way out, as the way they had come through seemed to have disappeared. A herd of protesting Joo Dees right behind them, the trio ran about dodging Dai Li agents and, yet again, the mysterious woman and her cranky bear. Zuko and Kali wound up jumping right over the bear while Uncle slid to the side of it at the last minute and came face to face with the woman.

**"Oh pardon me,"** he said and the woman gave him a strange look as they continued on.

Thankfully, they lost the Joo Dees after a little while, ditching them by hiding in another room. They found their way out after several minutes of retracing their path. They then climbed swiftly back up the ladder they'd descended earlier, Zuko leading the way. Reaching the top, he hoisted himself up, then turned, helping Uncle up, followed by Kali.

Silence except for the wind and sounds of splashing, sputtering Dai Li agents in the middle of the lake greeted them and the relative tranquility was a bit of a shock after the chaos which had gone on beneath the water. No sign of Appa or the Avatar and friends. Zuko stared down at the Blue Spirit mask and Uncle put a hand on his shoulder.

**"Leave it behind."**

Zuko contemplated him then looked at Kali, who nodded.  
**  
"He's right. It'd be for the best, I think."**

He looked down at the mask again, then stepped over to the water and dropped it. The three of them watched as it fell from sight. Kali and Zuko looked up at each other. She was so…relieved and still rather surprised at his actions in the prison. She walked up to stand closer to him then pulled him into a quick tight hug.

**"I'm so glad you did that," **she whispered then pulled back.

He looked back at her then replied quietly,

"**I think I am too."**

She leaned forward, catching him in a kiss this time.

Maybe…things really could work out right in the end between us and the Avatar and Masami, she thought hopefully, as he kissed her back and pulled her closer to him. Uncle stood smiling behind them. Too soon, the kiss ended and they hurried off, not wanting to be caught by the Dai Li. As they made their way home, Kali couldn't help but admire Uncle for all his patience and, above all, the love he had for his nephew. It was him, not her, that had saved Zuko from his 'destiny' today. And it was him that had always been there for Zuko, no matter what. She could only wish that she were just as lucky as Zuko and just as loyal, patient, and good as Uncle.

XOXO

"**I missed you more than you'll ever know, buddy."** Aang whispered to the bison as he was perched on his head. Masami smiled, gently petting the bison as he licked Aang off his face. Aang landed on his feet, and the group looked as Sokka spoke,

_**"**_**Look, we escaped from the Dai Li, we got Appa back, I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan. We're on a roll."** He pleaded with the group. Masami nodded, Toph nodded, and everyone seemed to agree except for Aang.

"**One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll." **He said rationally. Masami saw his point, but she could see Sokka's point too.

**"We can build on it. If we want to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens, we need the Earth King's support."** Sokka urged.

_**"**_**What makes you think we'll get it? I don't know if you've noticed, but things don't** **usually go that smoothly for our little gang."** Toph said, seemingly having changed her mind.

**"I know, but I've got a good feeling about this. This time will be different."** Sokka urged. Emi held his arm, and nodded, laying her head on his shoulder,

"**I'm with Sokka."** She stood her ground against the group. Masami looked back and forth between the groups, and she had to admit she was with Sokka for once.

**"Sokka, Long Feng is control of the city. His conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful. I think we should just keep flying and leave this horrible place behind us."** Aang argued again.

**"I'm with Twinkletoes. I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se, and I can't even see!" **Toph said with raised arms and wide eyes.

**"But now that we have Appa back, there is nothing stopping us from telling the Earth king the truth about the conspiracy and the war."** Masami added suddenly, everyone looking towards her. She had wanted to run at first, but now? She didn't know if they'd lost an ally to the damn Dai Li, but she wasn't prepared to let them get away with that.

**"See, Masami's with me."** Sokka said happily, putting an arm around her shoulder, his other being held by Emi. Masami locked eyes with him with a cranky expression, and he pulled his arm back, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"**It's the whole reason you came here in the first place, we have to try."** Emi urged, tugging Sokka around as she pleaded with the others.

**"Well, I guess if the Earth King knew the truth, things could change…"** Aang reasoned thoughtfully.

"**I don't trust the new positive Sokka. Long Feng brainwashed you, didn't he!"** Toph cried, pointing accusingly at Sokka. Jet glanced to his left as she accused Sokka of being brainwashed, and Aang's eyes followed his and he didn't like what he saw. There were already Earth Nation Ships looking for them. Everyone's eyes followed the boys' gaze.

_**"**_**That's probably the Dai Li searching for us. So?"** Sokka questioned Aang.

**"Let's fly!"** Aang said confidently as everyone swiftly made their way towards Appa.

XOXO

Kali stared down at Zuko as he tossed and turned, moaning, under the sheet. She leaned over him as he opened his eyes and looked at her. She put a hand on his head then pulled the newly re-dampened cloth out of the bucket.

**"You're burning up,"** Kali said, concerned.

**"You have an intense fever,"** Uncle said as Kali put the cloth on his head, **"This will help cool you down."  
**  
Zuko groaned.

**"So…thirsty…"**

Kali stopped him as he started to sit up, while Uncle ladled some water out of another bucket. Kali prompted him up while Uncle held the ladle to his lips.

**"Here's some clean water to drink. Stay under the blankets and sweat this out."**

Zuko snatched the ladle from him, finishing the water quickly. He reached for the bucket and dragged it over, emptying its contents into his mouth and splattering the rest of it all over himself.

Kali sighed.

**"And now we're going to have to either change your bedding or keep you on a wet mattress…great."**

Zuko rolled back over, coughing.

**"We can use mine,"** Uncle assured Kali, who stood to go get it, glancing back at Zuko as she did so.

By the time she came back, Zuko was back asleep. Together, she and Uncle set out the new mattress and carefully adjusted Zuko so that he and the blankets were now on it instead of the wet one.

Kali looked up at Uncle.  
**  
"You'd better go finish seeing to the new apartment and the tea shop. I'll take care of him."**

Uncle sighed.

**"I suppose you are right. If he doesn't get well very soon, we'll have to move him there."**

**"When do we have to be out of this apartment and into the new one by?"**

Uncle sighed again.

**"By tomorrow."**

**"Tomorrow?"** Kali thought this was awfully sudden. Uncle'd only received the offer for the tea shop the day before after all.

**"I'm afraid so. And my tea shop is to be opened tomorrow afternoon."**

**"But that's crazy! Can't you ask them to postpone it?"**

Uncle shrugged.

**"I'm not sure there's much I can do. I will ask though."**

**"You're the owner of the tea shop. I would think you would have some say in it."**

Uncle nodded, glanced worriedly at Zuko one more time, and walked out of the door.

**"I'll be back as soon as I can be."**

Kali sat down next to Zuko and held the wet cloth back up to his head. They could only hope the disease would disappear as quickly as it had appeared.

XOXO

"**Can we please buy a new saddle!"** shrieked Toph, pleading, **"Riding bareback is terrifying!"  
**  
Masami glanced over to see the blind earthbender bury her face in Appa's fur as they all clung for dear life to him. Appa veered downward toward the palace.

**"There it is!"** she could just barely hear Sokka shout over the wind, "**That whole thing is the palace. The Earth King's chambers should be in the center!"  
**  
**"I just hope Long Feng didn't get here before we did!"** shouted Aang from beside her.

**"Why would you assume that,"** shouted back Sokka, **"If you ask me, I think we're just gonna sail right i-AHHHH!"  
**  
A huge rock sailed past them and Toph shrieked and Sokka shouted but their cries were lost to Masami as Aang began maneuvering Appa around various rocks being shot at them from the Earth King's guards. They moved rapidly and sharply, nearly causing Emi to lose her grip as they did so, Sokka reached over abruptly to help keep her secure. Masami looked over at Aang, who kept his eyes focused on the palace as they neared it. He punched a huge rock aimed perfectly at them, shattering it into several pieces. Masami felt awed at how in control and powerful he seemed right now. He split another boulder in half, the two halves falling on either side of them as they plunged downward towards what looked to be a small army of guards.

Aang jumped off of Appa as they came in for a landing and flung his staff down causing the ground to ripple upward beneath the soldiers, flinging them high into the air to land unconsciously back on the ground. Appa, having landed, roared at the guards' commander, frightening his steed and causing him to fall to the ground. The man crawled away as Masami and the others descended from Appa and assumed fighting stances, running up to join Aang.

The group rushed down the causeway towards the palace. Another series of earthbending guards appeared in front of them and punched rocks at them in unison. Aang knocked several out of the way, twirling his staff, while Toph brought up barriers to destroy several of the rocks. Aang then used his staff to bring up further barriers. Sokka began stunning men with his boomerang, while Masami shot a series of small icy sicles at the men, knocking them off their feet long enough for Toph to lock them onto the ground, allowing Masami to recollect her water. As another crowd of men rushed toward them, Masami looked over to see Toph spin pieces of the causeway up to pin them all beneath them. As they ran past the men, Masami could hear Emi call an apology to them. Waste of breath, she figured, but all the same, it was a nice sentiment anyway.

Two badger mole statues were thrown at them as they began to reach a moat and Aang and Toph combined efforts to create a protective, igloo-shaped barrier over the group. Masami then jumped out from behind the barrier, raising the water from the moat in a huge wave as she ran over the bridge and plunging it at the soldiers, then freezing them into place with it. The others followed her across and Toph tilted the stairs the next wave of soldiers had begun running down, causing them to slide helplessly down towards their frozen comrades. Toph and Aang sped the gropu up what had been stairs previously, as soldiers hurtled past them.

**"Seriously,"** shouted Sokka**, "we're actually on your guys' side!"**

Reaching the top, Aang and Toph knocked back some more soldiers and they finally entered the palace. Where are all these guys coming from? thought Masami irritably. They soon found themselves with three hallways to choose from to follow and even more guards to fight. As the fight raged on, Sokka shouted at Toph, asking where the Earth King would be.

**"How should I know?"** Masami heard her shout back, **"I'm still voting we leave Ba Sing Se!"  
**  
Masami used the water inside some nearby decorative plants to whip the plants at several of the guards, distracting them while the others hit them and Sokka ran about checking doors. She glanced over as Sokka opened a third door.

**"BURGLAR!"** she could hear shrieked from inside the door and Sokka shut it quickly, looking embarrassed and apologizing.  
Eventually, they found themselves down a huge hallway with an enormous door at the end of it.

**"Now that's an impressive door,"** exclaimed Sokka, **"It's gotta go somewhere!"**

He attempted to shove it open himself but Aang opened it for him in the end, blasting the door and Sokka with a powerful gust of air. The door flung open and Sokka flew forward with it.

**"A little warning next time!"** he whined while Masami smirked slightly.

As they entered through the door, they found themselves face to face with none other than the Earth King himself. Finally. Only, he wasn't quite what they'd expected.

XOXO

Katie.

XOXO

The man on the throne wore much green, yellow and a small hat. Glasses sat low on his nose, and he looked very unhappy to see them. He wore jade around his neck, and sat alongside a fat animal, was that the…bear? This place really was too weird.

**"We need to talk to you!"** Aang cried as they ran forward.

**"They're here to overthrow you."** Long Feng contradicted, stepping from the shadows.

**"No, we're on your side. We're here to help."** Sokka urged.

**"You have to trust us."** Aang begged beside Sokka.

"**You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, break down my fancy door, and you expect me to **_**trust**_** you?"** The Earth King said dryly.

**"He has a good point."** Toph admitted lightly, getting bopped on the back of the head by Emi.

**"**If you're own my side, then drop your weapons and stand down." The King commanded. Masami looked around the group, and gradually they all started to relax their fighting stances and put what weapons they may have had out away.

"**See, we're friends, your Earthiness."** Aang solicited with a smile. But, before anything else could be said, Long Feng signaled for the Dai Li to attack, sending those stupid fist shaped rocks towards the group, attempting to bind them. Masami closed her eyes, but opening them again swiftly as she heard the rocks crumble from ahead of her, she thought Toph might have been the one to break them, but she turned and behind her stood Ariana, and she did not look happy.

**"You would dare raise a hand against the Avatar! You are truly getting too pigheaded for your own good, you insolent miscreant." **She snapped, moving slowly past the group. Masami was getting very fond of her timing.

"**Excuse me?"** Long Feng seemed stunned she would say something like that _him!_ She laughed,

"**I believe you heard me."("**Did I stutter?") She shot back, crossing her arms and cocking her hips to the side.

"**The Avatar!"** The King cried from his throne. Long Feng looked back at him, most displeased expression crossing his face.

**"Yes Sire, the little bald boy."** Ariana motioned for Aang who waved.

"**What does it matter Your Highness?"** They're enemies of the state." Long Feng reminded him.

**"Perhaps you're right, though…Ariana is my advisor, and she seems to trust them, so I think her judgment is sound."** He said smiling towards Ariana who seemed to beam with pride.

**"****And Bosco seems to like him. I'll hear what he has to say."** The King said, jokingly, then seriously. Long Feng looked livid, while Ariana looked utterly amused at the old man's defeat by her hands.

_**"**_**Well, sir, there is a war going on right now. For the past 100 years, in fact. The Dai Li's kept it secret from you. It's a conspiracy to control the city, and to control you."** Aang explained.

**"A secret war That's crazy!"** The king cried, looking towards Long Feng.

**"Completely!"** Long Feng agreed fakely.

**"Long Feng didn't want us to tell you, so he stole our Sky Bison to blackmail us. And blackmail is the least of his crimes, he brain washed our friends!"** Aang accused.

**"All lies. I've never even **_**seen**_** a Sky Bison Your Majesty. Frankly, I thought they were extinct."** Long Feng lied again.

**"Your claim is difficult to believe, even from an Avatar."** The Earth King reasoned.

**"These hooligans are part of an anarchist cell that my agents have been tracking for weeks. If you listen to them, you're playing right into your own destruction."** Long Feng started, but was stopped by Ariana.

"**I'm sick of your lies!"** She seemed to show no fear of Long Feng anymore,

"**Your Majesty, they're telling you the truth."** The King looked her in the eyes, and one could see an unspoken lot of trust past between them.

**"I have to trust my advisor."** He said as he looked away, and Long Feng looked positively more livid then before.

"**You would believe that pissant of an advisor before ME!"** He snarled at the King. The King's eyebrows rose, and he nodded,

"**After an outburst like that, most certainly. It seems you must have something to hide if you are going to lash out at others like that. I will go see about these claims I've heard, then decide who to put my faith in." **The King finished, looking down his nose at Long Feng. The group standing before him started to cheer, and knew this was their only shot.

XOXO

Kali frowned down at the weak, restlessly sleeping prince as he tossed and turned beneath his blankets. It was later in the day now and Uncle had not returned. She stood up from where she'd been crouched beside Zuko for several minutes now and walked back to the kitchen part of the room where she was making dinner. She had trouble focusing as she worked to prepare it and stirred the pot. She was making soup in the hopes that maybe Zuko'd actually be able to eat some if he woke back up in time. Somehow she seriously doubted he would be. She shifted back and forth nervously in front of the pot as her thoughts continued to be filled with concerns about Zuko. She still wasn't sure what could be wrong with him though she'd thought of many possibilities for what could have caused it. She'd had plenty of time to and none of them were good options. Most of the diseases that struck so suddenly that she knew about usually killed their victims unless the exact treatment required was administered very quickly. She tried not to think about that though. She lifted the ladle to test the soup to see if it tasted alright thus far but her hands were shaky and hot soup spilled out of it onto her arm, stinging. She cursed softly, replaced the ladle, and put a damp cloth on her arm. While she was at it, she checked Zuko's cloth to see if it was still damp enough. He'd tossed and turned so much that it'd fallen off so she put it back in the pail. He was grunting in his sleep now, as if in pain. She paused to watch him for a moment before returning to the food. What could he be dreaming about?

Zuko stared coolly into the dark room in front of him. His many subjects stood before him, all clad in their respective military attire. He was their leader. He was the Fire Lord. There was not a thing in the world he couldn't handle right now. For the first time since what seemed to have been longer ago than he could remember, he felt completely unburdened and not the least bit tired. He felt confident, serene, and as if everything in his life was going according to plan for a change. The scar was gone. The thought passed through his head fleetingly as if it weren't really that important at all. Two dragons circled down the pillars on either side of him, the one on his left red and the one on his right blue. The blue one spoke to him as he watched his subjects begin bowing.

**"It's getting late. Are you planning to retire soon, my Lord?"**

The voice was terribly familiar and something about it troubled him slightly.

**"I'm not tired,**" he replied calmly.

The dragon drew closer to him, speaking persuasively.

**"Relax, Fire Lord Zuko. Just let go. Give in to it. Shut your eyes for a while."**

Zuko felt his eyelids begin to grow heavy and his mind foggy suddenly, even though he knew he wasn't tired. The voice of the red dragon, also very familiar, jolted him out of whatever drowsiness had begun to overtake him.

**"NO, FIRE LORD ZUKO! Do not listen to the blue dragon! You should get out of here right now. Go! Before it's too late!"**

Out of the corners of his eyes, Zuko could see both dragons drawn up very close to him now. The voice of the blue dragon returned, softly hissing in his head.

**"Sleep now, Fire Lord Zuko..."**

Zuko felt the dragons' presence disappear as the room suddenly became darker and the pillars around him crumbled. Zuko looked on in horror as darkness overtook the room and the his subjects fell to reveal only empty armor. He looked around as he found himself in complete darkness, searching for...he wasn't sure what exactly. Something good. Instead, he saw a sudden gleam as two golden eyes appeared before him and the blue dragon emerged from the darkness, still hissing.

**"Sleep...just like MOTHER!" **it shouted as its jaws gaped open, swallowing Zuko into even more darkness. He turned. Was that-? It was! His mother! He stared as she turned to look at him. She looked terrified.

**"ZUKO, HELP ME!"** she shouted, sounding desperate. She disappeared and he felt himself begin to fall into a hole. He fell down through the darkness and he could hear another voice he knew very well from somewhere speaking. It was telling him of all his failures over the years, all the times he'd disappointed the voice. He felt the left side of face sting and touched it, feeling his scar upon his face once more. Only it felt as if it were still on fire now. He screamed in pain, horror, and confusion and reached out, groping for anything...anything to help him. Abruptly he felt a hand grab his and he stopped falling as someone began to pull him up. He opened his right eye, still clutching at the burning side of his face and looked up at the girl above him. Kali! After some struggling, she pulled him up and he felt his feet touch solid ground. He could feel himself trembling and felt a tear sliding down the side of the good half of his face. He closed his eye again and tried to look away so that she wouldn't see but he felt her hands touch his face then pull him to her. He could hear her voice in the distance. And then, the burning was gone, replaced by a cool moist feeling on his head. He opened his eyes. Kali was staring down at him, propping his head up in one hand against her chest and holding a wet cloth to his head in the other.

**"Your skin feels like its on fire still,**" she said, then seemed to hesitate, as if she'd thought about saying something more. Zuko squinted up at her, feeling his blood pumping through his veins, his heart pounding hard.

**"What is it?"** he asked, coughing as he did so.

She hesitated again, then spoke.

**"Nothing. It's just...you were screaming in your sleep. You must have been having a bad nightmare. I was worried about you so that's why I woke you. I know you need your rest, it's just...you seemed really upset."**

She brushed a tear off of his cheek and he felt himself relax.

**"I was."**

This time it was his turn to hesitate.

**"Thanks for waking me up,"** he said quietly, leaning more into her and closing his eyes again. She just nodded and, knowing he couldn't see, silently brushed a tear off of her cheek as well.

XOXO

Next thing the group knew, they, the Earth King, Ariana and a large assortment of guards were grouped together on a Train on the way out of Ba Sing Se.

"**So, this is what a train is like? I didn't realize it would be this…public."** The King stammered, mildly uncomfortable with all the people. He grabbed for Ariana's hand, which she gave a comforting squeeze.

"**So you've never been outside the upper ring before?"** Emi asked, rather flabbergasted.

**"I've never been outside of the palace. Now **_**that's**_** the way to travel!"** The King admitted, then pointed out the window, seeing Momo sitting on Appa's head, flying alongside the train. "So, may I ask where we're going?" He asked to all the stunned faces around him.

**"Underneath Lake Laogai, Your Kingliness. To the Dai Li's secret headquarters. You're about to see where all the brainwashing and conspiring took place."** Sokka explained as the train lurched on towards that godforsaken lake. As they reached the lake, Toph walked ahead of them a ways, feeling the earth beneath her feet.

_**"**_**It's gone!"** She cried, moving her feet lightly.

**"Oh, don't tell me**_**…**_**That's ok, still got my positive attitude."** Sokka said exasperatedly, hanging his head.

**"The Dai Li must have known we were coming and destroyed the evidence." Masami** mused, speaking for the first time since the King had joined them.

**" Hmm. That seems awfully convenient."** The King mused, looking towards Ariana, who shook her head.

"**It was here, I swear to you it was."** She said lowly, only to him.

**"Hey, if anything, this proves the conspiracy exists even more."** Sokka urged.

**"Long Feng may have been right, this was a waste of time. If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the palace."** The King turned, tugging Ariana with him. She looked back, pleading with them to come up with something.

**"The wall! They'll never be able to cover **_**that**_** up in time!"** Masami cried,

**"Oh yeah. If you come with us to the outer wall, we can prove to you that the secret war is real!"** Aang cried, Airbending himself to in front of the king.

"**No Earth King has ever been to the outer wall. I don't have anymore time for this nonsense."** The King said, brushing past Aang, who looked at the ground.

"**If you come with us, this time you can ride on Appa."** Sokka interjected slyly. The King stopped, and turned back towards them with a smirk on his face. Next thing they knew, they were all aboard Appa, and flying towards the outer wall. The Earth King clung to Appa, screaming as they flew.

**"First time flying?"** Toph asked with a small smirk.

**"It's both thrilling and terrifying."** The King replied breathlessly.

**"Yeah, I hate it too."** Toph added lowly.

**"I have to be honest with you. Part of me really hopes that what you are telling me about this war…isn't true."** The King tossed out, almost sadly.

"**I wish it wasn't."** Aang added just as sadly, as they came to a stop. They landed Appa on the wall, and all climb off as Aang runs to the side, pointing downwards.

"**It's still there!"** Aang cried as he pointed. The Earth King walked slowly to look over the side,

"**What is that?"** He asked, looking amongst the group.

**"It's a drill. A giant drill made by the Fire Nation, to break through your walls."** Sokka explained gravely.

_**"**_**I can't believe I never knew**_**.**_**"** The King breathed, shaken.

"**I can explain this, Your Majesty. This is nothing more than… a construction project."** Long Feng "explained" as he approached them. Ariana stood up, and didn't like how close he was getting.

**"****Really? Then perhaps you can explain why there's a Fire Nation insignia on your construction project."** Masami snapped, crossing her arms.

"**Well, it's imported of course. You know you can't trust domestic machinery. Surely you don't believe these children, instead of your most loyal attendant?"** Long Feng cried,

_**"**_**Dai Li, arrest Long Feng. I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom."** The King said with a firm tone to his voice. Everyone smiled, especially Ariana, who held the largest grin of them all. The traitor screamed as he was carted off, and Sokka shouted,

_**"**_**Looks like Long Feng is "long gone"! Ha…Oh, yeah, I've been **_**waitin'**_** to use that one."** Masami rolled her eyes at Sokka amused, and everyone else laughed lightly; even Ariana.

XOXO

Kali looked up as Uncle finally returned. Dinner had been ready a while ago but she'd kept it warm and waited for his return. It was dark by now. Despite her best efforts, Zuko'd only consented to eat a little soup before going back to sleep. Uncle sighed wearily as he entered.

**"How is he?"**

**"About the same,"** she frowned, **"I made some soup for us. He didn't eat much but at least he had some..."  
**  
Uncle nodded stiffly. He looked exhausted. Kali rose and began serving them soup.

**"So, what'd Quon say?"**

**"Hmmm?"**

**"About opening the tea shop up later?"**

Uncle sighed again.

**"Thank you,"** he said, as she handed him the soup, "He said the opening is all prepared and has been advertised far too much by now for them to cancel. While he understands my concerns, surely I could find a friend to care for my sick nephew, couldn't I?"

Uncle looked up at her from his bowl of soup.

**"This is very good as always, Kali. I am sorry to ask you this but do you think, by any chance, you could get some time off from work? I am not sure when Zuko will be well by...I suppose I could ask that girl Jin or someone else we know but..."**

**"Don't worry about it, Uncle. I've worked overtime a lot lately and I think I get a day or two of vacation time anyway. I'll ask him for the next couple of days off until we can be sure about Zuko."**

He looked at her almost tearfully.

**"Thank you...so much."**

She gave him a weak smile and looked down at Zuko.

**"It's not a problem, really...what else is fa-,are friends for?"**

She'd almost called them family. Almost. Even though they felt a lot like family to her by now though, she couldn't quite bring herself to make that presumption, though she doubted Uncle would have a problem with that. When she looked back at him, he wore a slight smile. They soon finished their dinner and cleaned up the leftovers. They then prepared for a long night as Uncle declared that Kali should try to get some sleep while he stayed up with Zuko for a while. Despite her protests, he waved her off to bed, taking a position beside Zuko as she closed the door.

XOXO

"**I want to thank you, young heroes for opening my eyes. All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis, was merely a city of fools, and that makes me the king fool. We're at war, with the**_** Fire**_** Nation."** Kuei thanked them, though he was still very morose.

**"That's why we came to Ba Sing Se, Your Highness. Because we think you can help us end the war."** Sokka told him respectfully.

"**We don't have much time. There's a comet coming this summer. Its energy will give the fire benders unbelievable strength. They'll be unstoppable."** Aang added, gravely.

"**But there is hope. Before the comet comes, we have a window of opportunity. A solar eclipse is coming. The sun will be entirely blocked out by the moon, and the fire benders will be helpless."** Sokka tossed in again, trying to make it not sound like a lost cause.

**"What are you suggesting, Sokka?"** Ariana asked.

**"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation. The Day of Black Sun."** He informed them.

**"I don't know. That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se. We'd be completely vulnerable."** Kuei responded, tensely. Looking up at Ariana.

**"You're **_**already**_** vulnerable. The Fire Nation won't stop until Ba Sing Se falls. You can either sit back and wait for that to happen, or take the offensive, and give yourself a fighting chance."** Sokka reasoned logically. It was sad but true.

**"Very well. You have my support."** He said, bowing his head. The group cheered mildly, stopping when the doors to the throne room were opened.

"**Your Majesty. I apologize for the interruption."** A general said, bowing low.

**"This is General How, He's the leader of The Council of Five. My highest- ranking generals."** The King told them.

**"We searched Long Feng's office. I think we found something that will interest everybody."** General How informed them as some men brought a large chest into the room, set it on the table, bowed and left.

_**"**_**There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se. Including you kids."** General How explained.

"**Secret files?"** Aang asked.

**"Toph Bei Fong."** Kuei read, and handed the scroll to Toph. Toph ran her hands over it lightly, and handed it to Masami.  
**"It's a letter from your mom. You mom's here in the city, and she wants to see you."** Masami smiled as Toph's face grew more excited then she'd seen it in a while.

**"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home? That's just sad."** Toph griped.

**"Aang."** Kuei said next, handing Aang a scroll.

**"This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Li captured it."**

**"It's from the Eastern Air Temple."** Aang read, Masami glanced over his shoulder, reading lightly.

**"Is there a letter for me and Sokka by any chance?"** Katara spoke up suddenly. Masami had almost forgotten she and Jet were there.

**"I'm afraid not."** Kuei said sadly.

**"Oh."** Sokka said, Emi grabbed his hand lightly.

**"But there **_**is**_** an intelligence report that might interest you."** General How informed them, handing a scroll to Sokka.

"**A small fleet of water tribe ships…"** He read.

**"****What? That could be Dad."** Katara hoped.

** "Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay, led by Hakoda. It is Dad!"** Sokka cried, he and Katara ecstatic.

That night it was decided, Toph would go see her mother; Jet, Katara, Emi, Sokka and Jet's little posse would go see Hakoda; Aang would go to the Air Temple, and Masami would stay behind and work with the Earth King and Ariana.

The morning everyone was to leave, they stood outside the palace, outside the city. It felt strange, them about to go their separate ways, even if it was for a little bit. She looked at the group getting on Appa, Toph about to be escorted to see her mother; then there was Masami; staying by herself without everyone else. She felt Aang walk up beside her.

"**I'm going to miss you."** He said, taking her hands in his. She smiled sadly,

"**I'm going to miss you too."** She said sadly. He leaned in and could see tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

"**Masami…"** He said quietly. She shook her head and brushed them away.

"**I'm fine."** She said lightly, he reached up and pulled her face to his, their lips brushing together lightly. She pressed hers to his harder, and he pulled her closer.

"**Be careful."** She said into his lips.

"**I promise. I love you."** He mumbled back, letting his tongue slip into her mouth as she had it open for a moment. As Sokka cleared his throat behind them, Masami made a rude gesture with her fingers, and pulled Aang closer. After a few moments, she let go. He wiped her eyes again, and he pulled away. Masami held his hand for as long as she could, and let their fingers slip apart as he moved away gently. She swallowed, and as he climbed on Appa, she waved sadly, and he smiled back, nodding to her, mouthing "I love you." Once more before flying off. She was left, standing with her elbow pulled towards her awkwardly,

"**I love you too Aang." **

XOXO

Kali found herself unable to get any good sleep. What little sleep she got was disrupted by nightmares she couldn't remember and involved lots of tossing and turning. She finally gave it up and went out to sit with Uncle. To her surprise, Zuko was awake. She sat down beside Uncle.  
**  
"You're awake."**

**"Yeah,"** he said weakly.

**"How're you feeling?"** she asked softly.

**"Terrible."**

He wasn't mincing words, that was for sure. He looked terrible too, about the same as before. She'd figured as much.

**"You should know that this is not a natural sickness,"** Uncle said, as he propped Zuko up, **"But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea."**

Kali looked at him in surprise and Zuko's expression became confused as he sipped the tea Uncle offered him.

**"What? What's happening?"**

**"Your critical decision…what you did beneath that lake…it was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body."**

Kali thought that was a little strange. She'd never heard of such a thing. But then again, she hadn't known Uncle to be wrong about this sort of thing before. And she supposed that maybe it kind of made sense…though she wasn't sure how that worked exactly. Zuko took another sip of the tea and leaned back down, still looking perplexed.

**"What does that mean?"** he asked before collapsing into a fit of coughing.

Uncle sighed and held the dampened cloth to Zuko's forehead again.

**"You're going through a metamorphosis, my nephew,"** he explained slowly, **"It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful Prince you were always meant to be."  
**  
Maybe it was just due to want for sleep, but the way Uncle had built up to his final statement, Kali would have sworn he was about to call Zuko a beautiful butterfly. Zuko becoming a beautiful butterfly didn't seem to likely to her. She groaned, as images of Zuko with butterfly wings attached danced through her head. Weird.

Not too long later, she insisted Uncle retire and get some sleep. He looked wiped out and Kali wasn't getting any sleep anyway. Eventually, she convinced him and was left alone with a now quietly sleeping Zuko. After a long time of sitting beside him, she began to feel stiff. She lay down beside him, keeping some space between them lest her body heat make his temperature rise even higher. She held the damp cloth against his brow and closed her eyes, wishing he'd just get better already. One day was quite long enough, no need to make this last for multiple days. Hurry up and become a butterfly, Zuko, she thought tiredly. Just listening to his breathing sounding even and relatively normal was calming. Just being with him in general made her feel better, she thought, because at least if he needed something she'd be right there for him. She lay there wide awake for the longest time before gradually fading into a light sleep once again. At some point during the night, she felt him roll over to lay right next to her and, being only half-awake, decided he'd move away if he needed to and that she didn't mind the potential risk of catching his metamorphosis right now. Much later in the night, she felt him start up suddenly, gasping, and was jostled awake by it.

**"Are you alright?"** she asked, alarmed.

She could see him touch his scar slowly in the little light available through the curtains. He lay back down quietly and, placing his still feverish head on her chest and pulling the pillow beneath his aching body, pulled her closer to better lean into her. She put an arm around him and pulled the blankets so that they covered him up again. Soon enough they were both back to sleep.


	18. What The Hell, Peewee?

**A/N:**I know I usually do this at the end, but I feel I need to warn of a mildly violent character death, though it's a minor character whom we all wanted to see go anyhow, but I figured I should warn of it anyhow XD

XOXO

Aang had said his goodbyes to Sokka and the others when he'd left them with Hakoda. He knew it wasn't really good-bye, but he did feel sad. He sighed as Appa sailed between tall mountains and he came towards the Eastern Air Temple. He steered Appa a bit lower and he could see three main buildings linked by massive bridges. He felt himself sigh again, and he knew this was what he had to do.

As he landed, he could see a man seated on a rock. The man was bald, and had a good amount of facial hair. Aang looked uncertainly towards the man as he spoke,

"**Um, hello? You're Guru Pathik, right? The person who attached the note to Appa's horn?"** He asked cautiously. The man opened his eyes and smiled,

"**Indeed. I was a spiritual brother of your people, and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso."** The Guru informed him. Aang smiled lightly, and he took a seat cross-legged in front of the tan man perched on the rock.

"**In your note, you said you could teach me to gain control of the Avatar State. How?"** Aang asked curiously.

"**You must gain balance within yourself before you can bring balance to the world. And the first step to gaining balance begins with this. Drink up!"** The Guru insisted happily, handing Aang a makeshift cup of a very thick yellow substance. Aang stared at the liquid with wary eyes, not wanting to be rude, he took a sip, and spit it out; repulsed.

"**Ugh! It tastes like onion and banana juice!"** he cried.

"**That's because it is! Yum yum!"** The man chirped happily, chugging his, and holding the now empty cup over his head like some weird form of hat. Aang stared, not sure this man was qualified to teach him anything at this point. He prayed this wasn't a waste of time.

XOXO

They'd had to move Zuko overnight as it'd turned out and relocate him to the new apartment. It'd been a terrible train trip over in the hours of the early morning. Uncle and Kali had been exhausted and slept in for a good little while. Kali was so soundly asleep that she didn't even feel it when Zuko gently slipped out of her arms and padded out into the main room. Nor did she hear the conversation between Zuko and Uncle. It wasn't until a pair of lips gently took hers in their own and a hand brushed through her hair that she awoke, startled yet not displeased in the least by the awakening.

**"Good morning, beautiful,"** said Zuko's unusually cheerful voice and she looked up to see him extending a hand holding a bowl of wonderful-smelling soup towards he, **"I brought you breakfast. Uncle made it and its delicious!"**

Kali stared up at him, baffled. This must be a dream, she thought and gingerly pinched herself under the covers as hard as she could. Nothing. She rubbed her eyes and stared up. Yep. He was still there and still flashing her the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face. She glanced to see Uncle behind him, looking bemused and somewhat confused as well. She sat up and took the bowl from Zuko, thanking him as she sipped the soup. He sat down next to her on the bed.

**"I figured it was the least I could do, after all that time you spent taking care of me while I was sick. Maybe I can make you and Uncle some tea later too, to thank you both."**

She stopped in mid-sip and stared at him, utterly beside herself with confusion.

**"Alright. Who are you and what have you done with the real Zuko?"**

XOXO

The Guru wasted no time taking Aang within the temple. The night they were working in was clear, Aang wasn't really sure if it was still night or very early morning. He didn't care. He and the skinny man stood beside a pool, looking into the waters.

"**In order to master the Avatar State, you must open all of the chakras. Aang, tell me everything you know about chakras."** Pathik explained.

"**What are chakras?"** Aang asked, rubbing his eye.

"**Oh, I see. I guess we'll start with the basics."** The Guru responded, with a hint of disappointment. Aang nodded, looking down as the other did. Beneath them, there was a shadowy pool of water.

"**The water flows through this creek much like the energy flows through your body. As you see there are several pools where the water swirls around before flowing on. These pools are like our charkas."** Pathik explained, poking a stick around in the water.

"**So chakras are pools of spiraling energy in our bodies?"** Aang questioned.

"**Exactly! If nothing else were around, this creek would flow pure and clear. However, life is messy, and things tend to fall in the creek, and then what happens?"** Pathik asked, very pleased with Aang's answers for the most part. He clogged the creek with a mess of moss as he did.

"**The creek can't flow?"** Aang said, studying the example presented to him.

"**Yes. But if we open the paths between the pools…"** He urged, using the stick to open the clogged flow of water.

"**The energy flows!"** Aang tossed in eagerly. The Guru smiled, nodding.

The day past lightly, Aang was left to mill about a bit, and he suddenly he was face to face with a lemur. He hadn't remembered bringing Momo with him. The lemur landed on his shoulder, and he thought nothing more of it.

"**Come on Momo, I have to meet Pathik in here."** They moved into one of the buildings, and took many flights of stairs until they reached a misty cavern where Pathik motioned for Aang to sit.

"**There are seven chakras that go up the body. Each pool of energy has a purpose, and can be blocked by a specific kind of emotional muck. Be warned...opening the chakras is an intense experience, and once you begin the process, you cannot stop until all seven are open. Are you ready?"** Pathik asked, Aang nodded, sitting lotus style across from him.

"**I'll do whatever it takes."** Aang said after a small pause.

"**First we will open the Earth chakra, located at the base of the spine. It deals with survival and is blocked by fear."** Pathik explained. Aang closed his eyes, and behind his eyes he could see the Blue Spirit, and could nearly feel the swords of his being pressed to his throat.

"**What are you most afraid of? Let your fears become clear to you."** Guru Pathik asked him, as he kept his eyes closed, and thought. He could see flashes behind gray eyes. First he saw Masami being engulfed into the ground, then his outburst in the desert that left her side in bad shape because of him; he could see the North Pole's destruction at the hands of the ocean spirit working through him. He could see Ozai in his fiery throne, and lastly he saw the comet. He recoiled from his thoughts, screaming loudly.

His eyes opened briefly at the sight of the Fire Lord, and he curled into himself and closed his eyes again.

"**Aang, your vision is not real. You are concerned for your survival, but you must surrender those fears. Let your fears flow down the creek."** Pathik told him, from what to him sounded somewhere very far away. But Aang did the best he could to control himself. He pulled his back straight. Inside his mind, the fire surrounding the Fire Lord died down, and faded away. He exhaled, and he knew only he and Pathik remained, oh and Momo of course.

"**You have opened your Earth chakra."** Pathik smiled, Aang wiped his forehead in relief. They moved deeper into the cave and came to stand next to a waterfall.

"**Next is the..."** Pathik questioned as Aang and he took their seats again.

"**Water chakra?"**

"**Brilliant! Maybe one day you will be a Guru too. This chakra deals with pleasure, and is blocked by guilt. Now, look at all the guilt which burdens you so. What do you blame yourself for?"** Pathik asked as Aang closed his eyes again. He could see himself fleeing the Air Temple all those years ago.

"**I ran away."** He answered meekly. He could see himself lashing out time and time again in the Avatar state.

"**I hurt all of those people."** He sighed again, his voice shaking.

"**Accept the reality that these things happened, but do not let them cloud and poison your energy. If you are to be a positive influence on the world, you need to forgive yourself."** Pathik reasoned. Aang took a breath, and he sighed; almost defeatedily, but he knew it was the truth. He couldn't go on blaming himself.

XOXO

Kali had accepted that this was, in fact, reality. She understood that. But she couldn't for the life of her figure out how the hell they'd reached this point. How had Zuko gone from somewhat happier and loving back to his old self then gotten sick from being nice and suddenly become super happy? It was all rather confusing. She felt she could understand it even up to the sickness, though she still found that to be a rather dramatic reaction. She was just glad it was over now. But she still had no idea how going through a day of terrible sickness had made Zuko become disturbingly happy. For anyone else, this level of happiness would be fine, perhaps normal even, but for Zuko...well, it was just freaky. Not that she didn't enjoy it at all. Breakfast had been the happiest she'd ever shared with Zuko. He'd been delightful the entire time and had insisted that she stay in bed and let him take care of anything she needed or wanted. He'd even done the dishes, telling Uncle and Kali to just relax for a bit before they had to get ready to open Uncle's tea shop. Kali, since she'd already taken the next couple of days off from work in preparation to take care of Zuko (had he still been sick), would be assisting in the opening, as would Zuko now that he'd recovered. While Zuko was busy with the dishes, Kali pulled Uncle aside into another room.

**"What's wrong Kali?"** asked Uncle, looking concerned as Kali turned to face him.

**"There's something I need to know,"** she paused, uncomfortably aware that what she was going to say next could sound accusing, **"Did you, by any chance, give Zuko some strange medicine I wasn't aware of?"  
**  
He looked confused for a moment.

**"No, I just-"** suddenly a look of understanding spread across his face, **"You are wondering why Zuko is so...happy."  
**  
She nodded.

**"Well, yes! He's just...so happy and it's just...not normal."**

Uncle smiled warmly and put a hand on her shoulder.

**"I think the storm may have finally passed, Kali. His conflicting feelings and impulses have finally sorted themselves out. It is my hope and firm belief that, after all this time, he is ready at last to begin his life anew."**

Kali stared at Uncle as he turned, urging her to join him for some of the tea Zuko would be making in a moment, and went back into the main room. Could what he said really be true? Had Zuko really changed...once and for all? She was overjoyed to think that he could be truly happy now...but she could not push away the dark doubts that lingered within her, weighing her down like drenched clothes on a cold, rainy day.

XOXO

Masami had been very sad to stay behind in the city, but she knew it was what she was needed to do now. She missed Aang, but she had very little time to herself so that helped with the separation anxiety; she never knew how bad it felt being alone, she'd always either had Kali or the group she was with now. She even almost missed Sokka, when it came to that point, she knew she was losing her mind.

Now she sat in the war room of the Earth King. She'd never been to a meeting like this before, and she could feel herself slowly becoming lost. She tried to pay attention though. She stroked Momo's ears as he sat on her knee.

"**General Fong's base will serve as the launching point of the attack. In exactly two months, the Army and Navy will invade the Fire Nation on The Day of Black Sun."** General How explained, earthbending three pieces across the map, moving across the sea towards the fire nation. Momo leapt from her lap and began attacking the little Earth Nation pieces,

"**Momo…"** Masami growled. The Lemur lowered his ears, and came back towards her, trying to snag one of the pieces before he left. He attempted to chew on it, and tossed it back towards the map, and suddenly the General brought the pieces back upright, startling the lemur off the board and back to Masami's lap.

"**All we need is the Earth King's seal in order to execute the plan."** The General finished, handing Masami a scroll as she stood. She bowed, and took it from his hands

"**I'll get these scrolls to him right away. Thank you, General How." **

XOXO

The opening day of The Jasmine Dragon had begun. Kali, Zuko, and Uncle stood back together for a moment admiring the beautifully decorated room. Gorgeous rugs and draperies furnished the room and beautifully crafted decorations hung from the walls and ceiling and accentuated the tables. The Jasmine Dragon looked perfect.

**"It is even more wonderful than I had imagined,"** said Uncle quietly, then looked up at Zuko and Kali, **"Who would've thought when we came to this city as refugees, that I'd end up owning my own tea shop. Follow your passions, you two, whatever they may be, and life will reward you."  
**  
Zuko squeezed Kali's hand affectionately and smiled down at his uncle.

**"Congratulations Uncle."**

**"I'm very thankful,"** replied Uncle thoughtfully.

**"You deserve it,"** smiled Kali.

"**The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city!"** exclaimed Zuko cheerfully.

**"No, I'm thankful because you decided to share this special day with me,"** Uncle replied, looking back at Zuko.

Kali let go of Zuko's hand. This felt like a moment to be shared between the two of them.

**"Um, I'll go check on the tea,"** she said and hastily detached herself from the pair. She glanced back just in time to see Zuko give his uncle a big hug. She felt slightly choked up at the looks of happiness on both of their faces and quickly continued back into the kitchens.

Zuko looked down on his Uncle, smiling. It was the best he'd felt since…well since he could remember, really. The look of joy on Uncle's face made him feel even better.

**"Now let's make these people some tea!"** he said enthusiastically.

**"Yes,"** he heard Uncle say as he followed him back to the kitchens Kali had left for, **"Let's make some tea!"**

Zuko hummed to himself as he located Kali and kissed her lightly on the cheek as he joined her in readying the tea. Things had never been better.

XOXO

The sun started to rise as Aang and Pathik moved along in their lessons. Aang found himself sitting by the Guru, watching the sun rise.

"**Third is the Fire chakra, located in the stomach."** The Guru explained.

"**My Fire chakra would like to eat something other than onion-banana juice."** Aang mumbled, holding his stomach.

"**He he. Good one."** Pathik smirked, then turned serious. "**Moving on. This chakra deals with will power and is blocked by shame. What are you ashamed of? What are your biggest disappointments in yourself?"** The Guru solicited, Aang closed his eyes. Behind them, he saw when he was with Jong Jong, and he burned Masami as he played recklessly. Outside his mind, his body winced.

"**I'm never going to fire bend again. I can't."** Aang breathed,

"**You will never find balance if you deny this part of your life. You are the Avatar, and therefore, you are a firebender."** Pathik reasoned. Aang took a deep breath.

"**Hmm, that chakra opened less like a flowing creek, and more like a burping bison."** The Guru said, pulling his head back a bit out of surprise when Aang suddenly belched.

"**Tastes like onion and bananas, but strangely something else. Pickles?"** Aang questioned, trying to put a finger on what he'd just tasted. Pathik shrugged, and their lesson went on. The next place they moved was the edge of one of the Nomadic shrines, and once against sat to face each other.

"**The fourth chakra is located in the heart. It deals with love, and is blocked by grief. Lay all your grief out in front of you."** Pathik started, as Aang closed his eyes once again, and place his hand over his heart. Behind his eyes, he could see himself sitting in a thick mist. He looked around, and he could see the world in a shade of green. The first person he could see was Gyatso, across from him. Gradually many air nomads joined him. Aang felt himself smile at them, but as he did, he was jerked backwards, and he could hear a voice from outside his head.

"**You have indeed felt a great loss. But love is a form of energy, and it swirls all around us. The Air Nomads love for you has not left this world. It is still inside of your heart, and is reborn in the form of new love."** The voice said, he could see the nomads above him, he reached for them, and then the cloud changed, and appeared to resemble Masami. As he did, he could feel tears streaming down his face.

"**Let the pain flow away. Very good."** The Guru commended as Aang opened his eyes.

"**Can I have some onion banana juice please?"** He asked, his voice cracking lightly. After a bit of a recovery period, the duo moved to sit at the base of a statue of a Nomadic nun. They paled in size comparison.

"**The fifth in the chain is the Sound chakra, located in the throat. It deals with truth, and is blocked by lies. The ones we tell ourselves."** The Guru led in as Aang closed his eyes. His first thoughts came from when he first awoke from the iceberg.

"**Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" **Katara asked in his memory,

"**Because I never wanted to be."** Aang urged out loud.

"**You cannot lie about your own nature. You must accept that you are the Avatar."** The Guru insisted. Aang nodded slowly, closing his eyes again. He sat for a moment, then finally, a small smile came over his lips and he reopened his eyes.

"_**Very**_** good Aang. You have opened the chakra of Truth."** Later in the day, they had moved towards the higher part of the building, sitting on the stairs over looking the valley ad he had learned to open the Chakra of Light by separating the elements, though they were all still connected. Like the Nations, different, but all one at the same time.

And, then they came to the last chakra. They were seated on a large tower, and night had fallen.

"**This is the last chakra isn't it?"**

"**Yes. Once you open this chakra, you will be able go in and out of the Avatar State at will. And when you are in the Avatar State, you will have complete control and awareness of all your actions."**

"**Let's do this."** Aang concluded confidently.

"**The Thought chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate on what attaches you to this world."** Aang closed his eyes, breathing lightly. Inside his mind, he could Masami waterbending with him, dancing with him in the festival, and sleeping beside him in their bed. He could see her happy face when he gave her the necklace he'd made, and when she would stand up for him against anyone. And, from outside his thoughts, he could hear the Guru speaking,

"**Now, let all of those attachments go. Let them flow down the river. Forgotten." **

XOXO

Zuko and Kali worked hard for several hours, serving customers, answering questions about the new shop, and brewing tea. The time passed by quickly though, since they were kept so busy. Not so busy, however, that Zuko couldn't make time for an occasional bout of affection. Kali had decided she liked this new Zuko a lot, albeit it still threw her off whenever he surprised her with a hug from behind or a quick kiss or one-liner as he passed by. It was just so new. She could see the Zuko she knew was still there...he was just happier.

Eventually, they finally were allowed a thirty minute break, long after dinner time had passed by. Zuko appeared beside her just as Uncle had finished telling her about the break.

**"Wanna go get some ice cream?"**

**"Sure,"** she smiled at him and took his hand as he led her quickly out of the tea shop.

Zuko led Kali through the streets to the Firelight Fountain. It was lit and looked beautiful tonight and, even better, there was hardly anyone in the square. He bid her sit down while he went to get the ice cream, after checking with her as to what kind of ice cream she'd like. He then made his way swiftly to where he knew that same ice cream stand from their first (official) date was located. Having paid, he walked back to her, carefully carrying the ice cream so as not to drop it. Despite his best efforts, however, as he handed the ice cream to her, holding it steady, it splattered all over her. Zuko, through no fault of his own (as the cone had been badly cracked unbeknownst to him and given way at that very moment), once again found himself holding one properly filled ice cream cone and an empty one, while his date looked down upon a sticky mess spattered across her legs. He blushed heavily.

**"I'm...soooo sorry,"** he said, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. Twice now! He knelt beside her, keeping the remaining ice cream far away from her, and attempted to wipe it off with the shop apron he was still wearing. She gently stopped his hand and began wiping it off herself, laughing slightly.

**"This is the second time this is happened. I must just have some really bad luck when it comes to ice cream,"** she smiled, **"Don't worry about it, it's not like it's your fault. That cone was cracked."  
**  
She leaned down to kiss him lightly as he stayed in his position beside her.

**"So are you going to sit and enjoy your ice cream or are you planning on spending a while on the ground?"  
**  
He stood hastily and sat down beside her, looking at his ice cream cone uneasily. He hesitated for a moment.

**"You want to share it?"** he asked.

**"Sounds good."**

They made short work of the ice cream and soon found their tongues engaged in more than licking ice cream. Zuko found himself leaning over her as she propped herself up with her arms, laying back on the edge of the fountain. She leaned back even further to better support herself and he felt her reach up and slowly stroke her fingers down his back, making him shiver. It reminded him of that night when she'd been so distressed and uncertain and they'd been out on the roof top together almost til dawn. Instinctively, he disengaged his mouth from hers and started to bite her neck but his advance was gently rebuked.

**"Zuko,"** she whispered, **"We don't have enough time...and besides, there are people around now."  
**  
He sighed and settled for going back to her lips, taking her upper lip gently in his own lips and sucking it slightly before her tongue felt its way to his. He closed his eyes and, a moment later, was very startled to find himself in the fountain. He and Kali looked up astonished at a cranky old codger of a man, who stood scowling down at them. Had he really just pushed them in the fountain?

**"Don't you two dawdle out here in public a-kissin' and assaultin' the rest of us with your little love-makin' session!"** he pointed an accusing finger at Zuko, **"You wanna secure your manhood and pass on your legacy, Pee Wee, you get that girl in your bed and do her like a proper fella! But don't you try to make a killin' out here on the streets in front of civilized folk!"  
**  
They stared up at the man, fascinated and horrified at the same time by his words, and watched as he stalked off muttering to himself. Then they stared at each other for a moment, finally seeing fit to shut their gaping mouths before hastily clambering out of the fountain. They arrived back at the tea shop a few minutes late, looking terribly embarrassed and flustered.

XOXO

Masami wasted no time making her way towards the throne room that belonged to the Earth King. She'd gotten side tracked chasing Momo a few times, and she'd stopped to converse with a few she'd met previously, but she was now on her way for real to take the orders from General How to the Earth King.

She reached the door, and knocked lightly. She pulled it open, and was surprised to find three Warriors inside, but the tallest one looked at her, followed by the others, and it took her no time to know something wasn't right with these three. For starters, most of them had gold eyes, not to be racist, but no other nation had those except…

"**You're not Kyoshi Warriors."** She stated, tensing her stance as the seeming leader stepped towards her.

"**I know for a fact you aren't now…none of them look that bad."** She commented offhandedly, before feeling herself receive deceived blows, and she knew she was correct. She fell towards the floor, her muscles stunned.

"**Aang…"** She breathed as her head slammed into the floor, and her vision tunneled to black.

XOXO

Kali silently fumed as she hastened about the tea shop, checking on the tea shops' last customers of the night to make sure they were satisfied with their tea. Thus far, all the comments have been positive regarding the tea. She and Zuko had gotten many weird looks though, seeing as how they were still drenched. What had been that man's problem? When it got right down to it, all they'd been doing was kissing while she stroked his back. Granted they'd been laying down kind of and she'd had to remind Zuko that it wasn't the time and place for a hickey but still! It certainly hadn't been that old guy's place to shove them into the fountain and rant at them about sex! She'd felt so humiliated and still did. And on top of that, he'd made them late getting back to work. She glowered down at the tea pot she was holding and stormed back into the kitchens.

Zuko frowned down at the broom as he swept the tea shop. There were only a few people left in the tea shop finishing their tea as the shop was no longer open to new arrivals. It was closing time and, hopefully, the stragglers would soon depart. Things hadn't ended quite as he'd hoped for on break. He'd decided it could've been worse though. Now that he finally seemed to have become a happy person, he clung tightly to his good mood, trying to be optimistic. In hind sight, maybe it'd even become funny eventually. Right now, it was a rather sore memory. What was really bothering now though was how badly Kali had taken it. She'd spoken as little as possible since it'd happened and it was obvious she was upset. What if she blamed him? He stopped her as she started to pass by him with the other broom, feeling very concerned. Maybe...he should apologize?

**"Hey...I'm, uh, sorry about what happened earlier. I guess I was just starting to get...carried away and...um I'm sorry."**

**"It's fine,"** she sighed, **"That...guy was just being stupid. It would've been nice if the son of a bitch had at least refrained from pushing us into the fountain."  
**  
Zuko felt relieved. Good, she didn't seem to blame him. For a moment, when they'd been together by the fountain, he really had started to forget where they were. He'd felt like this before with her, during this past month. It seemed strange to think it'd only been a few weeks ago that they'd begun dating. He felt as if it'd been a lot longer than that.

**"Well, don't let it bother you so much, alright?"** he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, **"It could've been worse, right?"**

Kali nodded slowly. Today had been a crazy day. Zuko of all people was comforting her, they'd been dumped in a fountain by a crazy old man, and Uncle had officially owned and run his own tea shop for the first time. At that moment, a nicely dressed man bearing a scroll walked up to them.

**"Might one of you direct me to the owner of this shop?"**

Both nodded and Zuko pointed over to where Uncle Iroh was clearing a table. The man thanked them and hastily bore the scroll to Uncle.

**"A message from the royal palace,"** the man stated, bowing and handing the scroll over. Uncle took it, looking worried, and read it. The royal palace! thought Kali, What could the Earth King want with Uncle? Uncle's look of worry turned to a look of astonishment.

**"I-I can't believe it,"** he stammered.

**"What is it, Uncle?"** asked Zuko, as he and Kali joined Uncle. Uncle's stunned face turned to a look of elation.

**"Great news! We've been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!"**

He ran to the back of the store, making as if to begin preparations already for the Earth King, while Zuko and Kali stood in shock.

**"Wow,"** was all Kali managed at first. Zuko smiled, resuming sweeping.

"That really is great news," he said.

**"Yeah but...wow, that's just...surprising..and great,"** continued Kali in a slightly disbelieving tone.

**"Well...Uncle deserves it,"** said Zuko, **"I'm glad so many great things are happening for him right now. It's about time."  
**  
**"You're right,"** smiled Kali back, resuming her sweeping as well, **"He really does."**

This crazy day had just gotten even crazier. For once though, overall, Kali couldn't say she minded it so much. Except for the rude old creep, everything out of the ordinary that had happened today had been good. Zuko had been right before. Things were looking up.

XOXO

Aang's eyes shot open and his meditative state was broken as the Guru told him to let go of Masami.

"**What? Why would I let go of Masami? I love her!"** Aang defended.

"**Learn to let her go, or you cannot let the pure cosmic energy flow in from the universe."** The Guru reasoned.

"**Why would I choose cosmic energy over Masami? How could it be a bad thing that I feel an attachment to her? Three chakras ago, that was a good thing."** Aang snapped, irritably.

"**You **_**must**_** learn to let go."** The Guru stated resolutely. Aang shook his head,

"**I'm sorry, but I can't let go of Masami."**

"**Aang, to master the Avatar State, you must open **_**all**_** the chakras. Surrender yourself."** The strange man reasoned again.

"**Okay, I'll try."** Aang sighed, and closed his eyes again. He could see a starry sky behind his eyes. Everything began to spin and everything blurred. He could see an image of Masami slowly drifting away from him

"**Now, think of your attachments and let them go."** He could hear from far away. And as he did, Masami's image was gone.

"**Let the pure cosmic energy flow."** The voice said again. Aang could see himself floating above the world. He could see lights gathering together, and forming a walkway of some sort. Above it, there was a massive form of Aang himself, in the Avatar State. The tattoos glowed, and his eyes shown bright in the dark. He approached with caution, looking to a ball of lightly he held in his large hands. As Aang made his way towards his large spectral self he climbed into the hands of himself; though suddenly, he could see a flash over to his right. His eyes looked into the seen, he could see Masami lying motionless on near a wall, her hands bound, and her hair covering her face so he couldn't see what damage, if any, had been done. Aang jumped from the larger version of himself's hands, and he fell back towards earth, screaming as he fell. He jumped up as his meditative state was broken.

" **Masami is in danger! I have to go."** He cried, jumping down from the tower in which they sat.

"**Aang! By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra!"** Pathik cried, Aang faltered, **"If you leave now you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!"** The man cautioned. But, Aang couldn't stop now, his friends needed him. He leapt now further, and he made a b-line towards Appa, climbing on his back, and flying back towards Sokka and then to Ba Sing Se.

XOXO

It was very late by the time the tea shop was closed and the three were all exhausted by the time they got back to the new apartment. Well, Zuko and Kali were anyway. Uncle was filled with new energy, propelled by his invitation to the Earth King's palace. He chattered non-stop all the way home about how much of an honor it was and what he should wear and what the Earth King might look like. Zuko would be coming along with him to assist in serving the tea. The Earth King had requested that only one of Uncle's most trusted assistants accompany him. Kali, despite how excited the prospect of visiting the Earth King's palace had made her, had automatically submitted that Zuko should go and decided to return to her usual work the next day. After all, he was the great teamaker's nephew.

It had taken a while for Uncle to calm down enough to go to sleep and, with him as unusually excited as he was, that meant that neither of the other two got to sleep for a while either. After he finally retired, however, Zuko and Kali wearily flopped down into their bed. It wasn't long at all before Zuko had fallen asleep but Kali lay awake for a little while later, despite her tiredness. As she began to drift away, her thoughts shifted to what the old man had said about them having sex in the bed. She heard Uncle the time he'd been sleep-talking about sex in various places. The bed. The floor. The kitchen table. Something about roast duck. She opened her eyes sleepily and blinked a couple of times, looking at Zuko beside her. She leaned forward slowly and kissed his neck before finally falling into a deep, much-needed sleep. _"Maybe tomorrow..."_ was her final thought.

XOXO

Aang flew as fast as he could to where he'd left Sokka and the others. He hurriedly explained what he'd seen, and Sokka came back with him. Emi, Katara, Jet and Jet's posse stayed with his father, with promises that they would be right back.

**"So, what kind of trouble is Masami in?"** Sokka asked as they rode back quickly.

"**I don't know. In my vision, I just knew she needed help."** Aang answered worriedly.

**"It would be nice if your Avatar powers could be just a little more specific from time to time."** Sokka gripped. The boys looked down as a large noise was heard from beneath them. They could see something beneath them.

_**"**_**What is that?"** Sokka asked as they dropped a bit. They soon were able to see Toph was racing back towards the city as well. How had she gotten out of the city to begin with?

_**"**_**Need a ride?"** Sokka called, startling the blind girl into a large crash toward the ground, Toph screamed as she fell.  
**  
"Oooo!"** Sokka and Aang winced together. As they gathered her up safely, they placed her in the saddle and went back towards going to save Masami.

"**So how did it go with the Guru? Did you master the Avatar State?"** Toph asked Aang. Aang's mind drifted back towards the previous days. Pathik's words echoing in his ears.

_"If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the avatar state at all! "_

_**"**_**Aang, are you ok?"** Sokka asked as he didn't reply.

**"I'm great. It went great with the Guru. I completely mastered the avatar state. Heh heh…heh. Yeah."** Aang lied through his teeth as they entered the city.

XOXO

Naturally, upon awaking the next morning, Kali disregarded her last thoughts of the previous night as too risky and chalked them up to foolish thinking due to lack of sleep. Whether she wanted to admit it or not though, that had hardly been the first time she'd given it any thought. After all, they slept in the same bed every night. Reminding herself of the potential consequences of such an act and the fact that she and Zuko had only been dating for a month helped to deter her though. She was a naturally cautious person after all and didn't particularly care for rushing into things. And besides, they didn't have any really proven effective method to..well…she didn't want to think about that. And lastly, perhaps even more importantly,…she was terrified of screwing it up, even if she got past all her other objections. She spent the better part of making breakfast arguing with herself over the subject, then decided to drop it all together as Uncle and Zuko joined her in the kitchen. They ate breakfast relatively quickly, at Uncle's insistence, and then went their separate ways, Kali to work and Zuko and Uncle to prepare for their visit to the palace.

Kali was lost in thought as she walked along the still relatively empty streets. Here and there, people were beginning to open their shops and restaurants but most of them were inside their places and thus the streets remained pretty quiet. She was so preoccupied that she was quite clueless to the fact that she was being followed. It wasn't until she ran into Conall, who, along with his friends, was opening the restaurant that morning that she was alerted to a menacing presence. She greeted him as usual but was startled to see a look of concern on his face.

**"Do you have like a friend coming to work with you today or something?" he** asked uneasily. She looked back at him, confused.

**"No."**

"Well then you must have a stalker cause there's totally a guy back there following you."

Dwi Shu and Miki joined them.

**"Looks like one of those Dai Li guys,"** Dwi Shu muttered warily while Miki nodded his consent. Kali glanced behind her then turned back to them worriedly.

**"Do you really think he's following me? I haven't done anything bad or spoken a bit to people about, y'know, the war since I've gotten here. I can't imagine why they'd be after me,"** she said, then suddenly thought of Lake Laogai. Oops.

**"I dunno,"** replied Conall quietly, **"But I'm pretty sure that guy's stalking you. He was watching you pretty closely on your way down this street and definitely following you."**

She frowned.

**"Thanks for the warning,"** she said hastily then began to leave them, shouting back at them in a falsely cheerful voice**, "Thanks for the tip off then, guys. I'll be sure to stop here later to take advantage of the special. See you later!"**

I hope anyway, she thought, knowing this was probably pretty bad. Could they have really managed to find them after Lake Laogai, even after Zuko had been in disguise and Kali'd insisted that she and Uncle cover their faces at least somewhat? Could they have somehow found out who Zuko and Uncle were? That they were all fire benders? Her pace quickened as she rounded the next bend, though she tried to stay calm. On edge now, she felt a presence behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see a dark figure joined by another dark figure. She turned her last corner and could see the sign shop down the street. She bolted then, fully frightened now and anxious to just get inside the shop, get where people she knew were. She was a shop away from Master Karim's when something hard punched her in the side and, together with another hard object, yanked her into a side alley she'd almost passed. She struggled, grabbing at her swords and kicking the agent who'd pulled her to the side, but it was no use as the two who'd been behind her appeared, quickly subduing her with more of what she now saw to be rock hands. She tried to scream for help but the hands clamped all over her, including her mouth. She felt completely terrified and vulnerable at the same time, which she hadn't felt in a good while. One of the men leaned over her and spoke in a menacingly calm, quiet voice.

**"You are under arrest by order of the Fire Princess Azula."**

XOXO

The group reached the Earth King's Palace. Ariana met them, and escorted them into the Throne room. Aang started right off by explaining why they were all back so soon.

"**I had this vision, and Masami was in danger! Have you seen her?"** He panicked.

**"Masami's fine. You have nothing to worry about."** The Earth King assured him.

**"But, in my vision. I felt so sure that she was in trouble."** Aang mused.

**"Well, she met with the Council of Generals to plan the invasion. And since then she's been off with your friends, the Kyoshi Warriors."** The Earth King answered with a smile.

"**See Aang? She's with Suki. They're probably back at our apartment right now, talking about make up or something."** Sokka responded. Aang wasn't convinced completely.

"**Ok, maybe you're right."** Aang complied lightly.

**"Believe me, if there was **_**any **_**danger at all, Bosco's animal instinct would sense it."** All eyes went to Bosco as he raised his head and grunted unconvincingly.

XOXO

After much time spent on painstakingly preparing the PERFECT tea for the Earth King, Uncle had finally been satisfied and he and Zuko had headed out to meet with the Earth King. It'd taken a long time and it took a long time to travel to the palace grounds as well. Uncle had been filled with wonder, recalling how he'd always dreamt of arriving on the palace grounds, only as a conquerer rather than as an honored guest. Zuko had to agree with him that destiny was a funny thing. For his part, at the moment, he felt as glad as Uncle at how things had turned out. He had a new life now…and really, when he thought about it, it was a pretty good life. He couldn't understand why he'd been so resistant to it in the first place. But then again, right now, looking back, there was a lot he couldn't understand about before. Thinking too much about it made him start to feel some of the old feelings of pain and anger he'd felt before so he decided to stop thinking about it and returned his attention to the matter at hand. They'd been waiting for what felt like over an hour now and the Earth King had not yet arrived. No one had.

**"What's taking so long?"** he wondered aloud, uneasy.

**"Maybe the Earth King overslept?"** offered Uncle.

Just then several Dai Li agents entered the room quietly and began surrounding them. Okay there was definitely something wrong here.

**"Something's not right,"** Zuko said uneasily. What was happening? Then his blood ran cold as he heard a familiar mocking voice.

**"It's tea time."**

In that instant, all the old feelings rushed back, inspired by Azula's sudden return into his world. How dare she ruin his happy life in Ba Sing Se?

**"AZULA!" **he growled angrily, standing up quickly.

**"Have you met the Dai Li?"** she smirked, **"They're Earthbenders but they have a killer instinct that is so Firebender. I just love it!"  
**  
Uncle stood up beside Zuko slowly, holding his cup of tea.

**"Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'the Dragon of the West?'"** he asked calmly.

Azula examined her nail, looking as if this bored her to death.

**"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle."**

**"It's more of a demonstration really,"** replied Uncle, taking a long sip from his tea.

Zuko smirked, knowing what was coming next, and abruptly ducked down as his Uncle suddenly let out an enormous fire blast from his mouth. The Dai Li instantly took defensive stances, trying to ward off Uncle's attack, and Zuko took advantage of the distraction to blast a hole in the wall. He rushed through it, followed quickly by Uncle. They turned a corner hastily, just avoiding the rock hands the Dai Li had flung after them. Together they blasted a hole into the next wall and Uncle, without hesitation, jumped through the wall and landed on a large decorative bush below. Zuko was about to follow, but stopped suddenly. He'd had enough. This conflict between him and Azula had to end somewhere and he was determined that it might as well end now so that he could get on with his life.

**"C'mon!"** urged Uncle from below, **"You'll be fine!"**

**"No,"** replied Zuko gruffly, **"I'm tired of running. It's time I faced Azula!"**

With that he turned around to face the oncoming agents and Azula, scowling heavily. His sister approached, smiling mockingly.

**"You are so dramatic,"** she taunted, **"What are you going to do, challenge me to an Agni Kai?"  
**  
**"Yes,"** he replied stubbornly, **"I challenge you!"**

**"No thanks,"** she said lightly, further infuriating him as well as catching him slightly off guard. Unwilling to back down, he brought forth a large fire ball and hurled it at her, hoping to provoke her into the fight. Instead, her agents hurried forward to block it then flung rock hands at his feet, throwing him off balance. Startled, he caught himself with one hand, which was immediately pinned down. He looked up to see Azula walking away as more of the Dai Li cast their rock fists at him. He managed to free his hand and feet but was caught in the stomach by one of the fists, knocking some of the breath out of him and pushing back against the hole in the wall. He caught himself just before he fell out of the hole but was then grabbed by the earthbenders and bound quickly. So much for ending it right here and now, he thought irritably as he was dragged away.

XOXO

The group made pace towards Appa, Aang still mildly concerned. He stroked the lemur on his shoulder, and he heard it make several noises he didn't usually hear Momo make, but he thought nothing of it. As they landed at the house, Momo flew out of the sky, and landed on his shoulder.

"**Momo…Wait a minute…"** Aang said, looking back and forth between his two shoulders. Low and behold there were two lemurs there.

"**Where'd you get that one?"** Sokka asked, as they walked up the stairs,

"**I thought it was Momo when I was with the Guru…oh well, you'll be a gift for Masami!"** He informed the lemur with a smile. The lemur reached forward and put her hands on the arrow on his head, and then made a swatting motion at Momo. They flew around the group, squawking.

The group entered the living room, looking around. Nothing was disturbed, and no one was present. It was slightly a nerving.

_**"**_** There's no one else here."** Toph informed them.

**"****Masami **_**is**_** in trouble! I knew it!"** Aang cried.

**"Oh no."** Sokka admonished.

**"Wait, someone's at the door."** Toph corrected, **"Actually, I know who it is. It's an old friend of mine."** She added, walking to the door.

"**Glad to see you're okay."** She said, as the door opened, the person behind it was shocking.

**"I need your help."** General Iroh pleaded.

**'Huh uh?"** Sokka and Aang cried in unison.

"**You guys know each other!"** Aang asked, pointing between Toph and Iroh.

**"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down. Then he gave me tea and very good advice."** Toph explained.

**"May I come in?"** He asked politely, Toph nodded, moving to let him enter.

"**Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se."** He said gravely.

"**She must have Masami."** Aang snarled.

******"She has captured my nephew and Kali as well."** He continued.

"**Then we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Masami, Kali and Zuko."** Aang declared.

**"Woah there. You lost me at, "Zuko"."** Sokka stated flatly.

**"I know how you must feel about my nephew. But believe me when I tell you there is good inside him."** Iroh looked do them all pleadingly.

**"Good inside of him isn't enough. Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, okay?"** Sokka snapped, pushing past Iroh.  
**  
**_**"**_**Masami is in trouble. All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble. Working together is our best chance."** Aang reasoned. Sokka sighed, nodding lowly. Aang smiled.

_**"**_**I brought someone along who might be able to help us."** Iroh said, leading a way outside to a gagged Dai Li agent tied up on the porch. Iroh ripped the gag away from his mouth, the man began to talk.

**  
**_**"**_**Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup. They're going to overthrow the Earth King." ****  
**

"**Where are they keeping Masami!" **Aang snarled.

**"In the crystal catacombs of old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace."** The man cried, flinching, but the rest of the group fled before they could do anything else to him.

XOXO

Kali looked up as the entrance to the hole through which she'd been shoved earlier was opened. She'd been trapped in a crystal cave of sorts for hours now and had been unable to find any exits. She'd begun to think she'd never be found and wondered what the Dai Li and Azula were going to do with her. She felt both relief and dismay as Zuko tumbled down from above to join her. At least she wasn't alone now but on the other hand, it definitely was bad news that he'd been captured. He seemed startled to see her there.

**"Kali? What are you doing here?"**

**"Well, shockingly enough, it's because I got captured by the Dai Li, like you evidently,"** she sighed, **"Any idea how Azula got here and came to be in control of the Dai Li?"  
**  
He shook his head and stood, looking much more like his old self.  
**"No. But I have to get out of here and defeat her somehow, before she ruins everything."**

Sounded much more like his old self too. Kali frowned.

**"You mean we do. And where's Uncle?"**

"He got away."  
**  
"At least there's that. If he can somehow find us, maybe he could get us out."**

Zuko sat back down, scowling heavily, and, for a while, said nothing. Kali watched him with growing concern then knelt beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

**"Zuko, what's wrong? Aside from the obvious, I mean."**

**"Azula. I know it took me a long time to get used to living here…and to accept it, but I think I finally had. I was finally…happy. With Azula here though, everything I left behind, everything I'd finally accepted as the past and over…it's not over anymore. And I can't forget about it now. My father. My banishment. My quest to capture the Avatar. I just…don't think I can go back to accepting things being the way they are now that Azula's back. I can't run away from it all anymore."**

Kali moved to sitting in front of him and gently lifted his head so that she could look him right in the eyes.

**"Zuko. You're not running away. You've never run away from it. All this time you've been so stubborn, so determined to follow 'your destiny.' The destiny your father decreed for you. But you don't have to. Making the choice to live your own life for yourself and to decide your own destiny isn't running away. It takes courage to make that decision. To accept that the life you've been living isn't the life for you and try something new. You know that. We've talked about it before. When you woke up yesterday, you were the happiest I've ever seen you. It made me really happy too. You seemed…free. To have you like that…really meant a lot to me."**

Zuko stared back at her and the intensity in his beautiful fiery eyes almost made her avert her gaze. She knew now would not be the time for that though. He reached up and grabbed onto her wrists then took her hands in his.

**"Kali…do you think…we could really make it? If I really did make that choice, once and for all, and you and I…and Uncle somehow managed to get out of this?"**

She stared back at him, her heart pounding. She knew he wasn't just talking about him starting anew…it was starting anew together. She closed her eyes for a moment then nodded.

**"Yes. I think we could."**

They leaned forward together, instinctively taking each other's mouths in their own and kissing hard. They breathed heavily and Kali could now feel the blood pumping in her head. She'd really meant what she'd said. But was she really right? And did that mean that…well, that, in the end, she believed they'd stay together? For always? Emotions welled up inside her, as the overwhelming feeling in her head was that yes, they could be together always, while a small, yet potent minority whispered she was wrong. They pulled back from each other and suddenly Kali felt keenly aware that Zuko must be wondering the same thing. After a moment, he spoke shyly.

**"So you really-I mean…Kali, I think that I…I lo-"** suddenly he backed away, looking doubtful and even scared, **"I think that…I'm not sure what I think…"**

He looked embarrassed. Kali looked away, not knowing what she really thought or what to say either. She loved him…she thought. But would that be enough really? Their awkwardness didn't last very long though before an abrupt, completely unexpected event took it off their minds. At least briefly.

XOXO

The group made for the palace and Toph was able to validate what the Dai Li agent had told them. Toph and Sokka went to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup. Aang and Iroh were now making their way under ground to look for the girls and the Angry Jerk(no offense XD). Aang used Earthbending to create a path for the pair, and Iroh held fire to light their way. The silence was deafening and awkward.

"**So, Toph thinks you give pretty good advice. And great tea."** Aang started.

******"The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?"** Iroh responded kindly. Aang paused briefly to move more rock from his front.

_**"**_**Well, I met with this Guru who was supposed to help me master the avatar state, and control this great power. But to do it, I had to let go of someone I love, and I just couldn't."** He sighed,

**"Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love."** Iroh advised. They paused again so Aang could move the Earth forward once more.

_**"**_**What happens if we can't save everyone and beat Azula? Without the Avatar State, what if I am not powerful enough?"** Aang stressed.

**"I don't know the answer. Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving…"** He paused, as Aang moved the rocks away one last time**. ****"****You will come to a better place."** Iroh admonished as they were engulfed in a lime green light.

Meanwhile, Masami wandered the caves, alone and unsure of where she was. She remembered she'd been trapped down here, and now she couldn't tell any bend in the cavern from any other. She'd past a few openings into other catacombs, but nothing had been in most of them. She found a skeleton on one of them, but she'd run screaming from it once she realized what it was.

She moved warily from then on. Eventually voices entered her range, she wasn't within earshot enough to be able to tell what was being said, but she knew one of those voices. She didn't know from where right away, but she knew she knew it. Whether the connection was a good one or not she was still unsure at this point. As she neared, she crept towards a corner, and she could hear that the voices had stopped. She figured she'd been heard. She pulled her water from her pouch, and she stood her ground.

She inched forward, slowly, sidestepping as she did. She kept her whip ready, and when she got to the edge of the corner, she turned it swiftly, and came face to face with Prince Pyropants himself. She screamed, whipped him in the face, and caught his face in a bubble. She breathed heavily, and she looked just past the boy's shoulder to see whom he'd been talking to.

"**KALI!"** She screamed, released the Prince and barreled towards her sister. She jumped face first onto her sister, knocking them both over.

As she did that, the wall moved to the side, revealing Aang and Iroh standing together.

Kali inhaled abruptly as Masami released her and flung herself whole-heartedly at the Avatar, who embraced her tightly.

**"Masami, I was so worried…I'm so glad you're okay."**

**"I missed you, Aang,"** she heard her sister reply.

**"I missed you too,"** he murmured back and kissed her. Kali turned back to see that Zuko had risen to his feet.

**"You okay?"** she asked. Masami'd gotten him pretty good. Steam rose off of his head as he dried the water off of him as he stared, startled, at the newcomers. Uncle ran up and hugged both of them in a platypus bear hug as potent as Masami's. The expression on Zuko's face remained stunned until Uncle released them. Then it turned to anger and confusion.

**"Uncle, I don't understand! What are you doing with the Avatar?"**

**"Saving you that's what,"** Aang glared at him. Zuko growled back but Kali caught his eye and Uncle caught his arm. He gave both of them an uneasy look.

**"Uncle…why?"**  
**  
"Zuko…you have changed much since we began this journey together and now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose once and for all which road you will take,"** Uncle's expression softened, "**It's time for you to choose good. Look inside yourself and you will know which is the right choice."**

Kali put her hand on his shoulder, looked him in the eyes, then slowly walked over to join her sister and the Avatar. They stared at each other for a moment before Zuko shut his eyes, looking pained. Kali watched him tensely, fearful he'd open those eyes and make the wrong decision. Decide to go back to his old self. Decide the Avatar and all his friends were still his enemies. Decide Uncle was wrong. Decide she wasn't good enough. After a few tense moments, Zuko's eyes opened. He glanced down at Uncle, who nodded at him, then back at Kali. Then he nodded at her seriously, glanced at Aang and Masami, and slowly, began to walk over to join them. Kali's heart skipped a beat. He really had changed…she smiled, overwhelmed by emotions, and started to step forward. Just then, however a huge wall of rock rose between them, throwing them all back as several Dai Li agents appeared, attacking.

**"Zuko!"** cried Kali as she landed on the ground, realizing the Dai Li had cut Uncle and Zuko off from them.

**"Into the big cavern!"** shouted Aang as the Dai Li advanced on them and Kali felt Masami grab her hand. At Masami's urging, Kali followed them quickly through the hole Aang'd created earlier, dismay gripping her.

XOXO

Sokka and Toph made their way towards the Palace. Ahead of them, Sokka could see a man walking towards the Palace.

"**There's General How!" **He cried, though reconsidered running towards him when he spotted some Dai Li agents on the roof. He pulled Toph behind a pillar, and he could see the Dai Li attack the general before him. One agent shackled him, and another dropped to shackle his other wrist, stopping his arms.  
**  
**_**"**_**Arghh! What's going on here!"** How demanded.

**"You're under house arrest."** One agent informed him, dragging him off.

_**"**_**The coup is happening right now! We've got to warn the Earth King!"** Sokka exclaimed frantically, grabbing Toph again, Momo flying behind them. They wound their way through the palace, reaching the throne room, throwing open the door.

_**"**_**Thank goodness we're in time!"** Sokka cried, looking towards The King with two Kyoshi Warriors around him.

**"In time for what?"** Kuei asked, cocking his head to the side as he stroked Bosco.

"**Yeah, what are you in time for…cutie?"** One of the warriors asked as she cart wheeled into Sokka's face.

**"Uh, I'm kinda involved with someone."** He admonished, sweating.

_**"**_**They're not the real Kyoshi Warriors!" **Toph informs Sokka as she sent a rock towards Ty Lee. Ty Lee flipped backwards, using the rock to push off of. She landed on a badger mole statue behind Kuei. The Earth King gasped, looking at them both.

_**"**_**Sorry to disappoint you."** Mai said, pulling her daggers out, throwing them at Toph. Toph created a barrier of rock to block the assault; she then sent the barrier towards Mai. Mai simply jumped over it, though as she landed, Toph moved a rock from under her, and she fell away.

Sokka stood watching for a moment, but trned as he heard giggling behind him. Ty Lee proceeded to through trying to attack his pressure points, but he stepped out of the way each time, ducking and leaning.

_**"**_** Ooo, it's like we're dancing together."** She cried happily. Behind the Earth King, Azula held his shoulder. Kuei looked back, and could see blue flames in her other hand. He tensed.

_**"**_**This fight… is over."** She declared, getting Sokka and Toph's attention. Sokka held his hands up, and Toph followed suit. Ty Lee jumped between them, sending punches to their pressure points, causing them to lose their footing and fall to the floor. Behind them, Momo soared above them panicking, until he was trapped by a Dai Li agent in a stone fist. Azula roughly shoved Kuei by the shoulder, away from her.

_**"**_**Get them all out of my sight."** Mai and Ty Lee moved towards Toph, and dragged her off as a Dai Li agent pulled Sokka away, another lead the Earth King, and Bosco away. Azula smiled, looking rather amused as Long Feng entered the room.

_**"**_**Now comes the part where I double-cross you. Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation Princess."** Long Feng ordered, though the Dai Li didn't respond. _**"**_**I said, arrest her. What is wrong with you?"** He growled.

**"It's because they haven't made up their minds. They're waiting to see how this is going to end."** Azula informed him from behind. He turned his back,

**"What are you talking about?"** He questioned,

******"I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing. So you had to struggle and connive and claw your way to power. But true power…the divine right to rule…is something you're born with. The fact is, they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting on that thrown and which one is going to be bowing down. But I know. And you know. Well?"** Azula seated herself on the throne, crossing her fingers in front of her face.

Long Feng knew he'd been defeated. He sank to knees in a bow before Azula.

_**"**_**You've beaten me at my own game."** He sighed,

**"Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player."** Azula informed him, standing once again. She lead the Dai Li away from his bowed form. Before he knew what was happening, Ariana had descended from the ceiling.

"**Karma's a bitch, isn't it?"** She cooed, sliding a knife across his throat. He gasped, jerking away from her, slicing his skin lightly.

"**This is murder! You can't do this, you couldn't deal with the blood on your hands!"** Long Feng cried, trying to pull himself to his feet. Before he could, she leaned over him, twirling the knife in her fingers.

"**It's not murder, it's merely an execution. There's a large circle in hell for Mutineers like you."** She smiled again, pressing the knife into his throat**. "Any last words?"** He narrowed his eyes, and began to lift his hands. Before he could, his last breath was heaved.

XOXO

Kali trailed behind as she, Masami, and Aang entered an enormous crystal cavern containing a large waterfall and underground river, which, had she not been so distracted, Kali would have appreciated as very beautiful. However, she was rather too preoccupied at the moment.  
**  
"We need to find Sokka, Toph, Ariana, and Kuei,"** asserted Aang as they ran.  
**  
"Wait,"** cried Kali, **"We still have to find Zuko and Uncle again! They're still trapped back there!"  
**  
No one had time to respond as a large stream of blue fire streaked towards them from behind. Kali instinctively turned and blocked it as the others ran back to join her. Azula advanced on them smugly, avoiding the cascade of earth Aang flung her way. Masami sent a large wall of water at her, which the fire princess blocked with a matching wall of fire, filling the air with steam. The three stood in defensive poses, straining to find where Azula had gone in the clouds of steam. Abruptly, she emerged from it, high above them on a crystal outcropping. She rained a series of fireballs down on them, which Kali quickly reassembled into a powerful jet of flames which she sent back towards Azula. The rock column Azula had perched on shuddered from the flames' impact, causing her to gasp and drop down directly between Kali, Masami, and Aang. Azula eyed them nervously, preparing for attack from any direction. Now was the time for them to act, thought Kali, as she noticed a series of Dai Li agents rushing towards them from the opposite side of the cavern. Just then, however, a large fire blast crashed down among them, startling everyone.

Through the smoke, they looked up to see Zuko approaching, his usual aggressive fighting stance held firmly. He joined the circle, glancing back and forth between them. What's he waiting for? wondered Kali, He already made his decision a moment ago. She realized with a start he was remaking his decision. Why? Quickly, her worry gave way to reassurance. He had many faults and had made a lot of mistakes on the way, but in the end he'd come through, she told herself. He'd changed. She waited anxiously for him to surprise Azula. But he never did. Kali gasped as he turned suddenly and attacked the Avatar instead, who managed to avoid it just in time. She watched in horror as the boy whom, over the past several months, she'd gotten to know and grown to love, despite everything, lashed out at the greatest chance for world peace and her sister's boyfriend. Chills ran down her spine and she took a couple of steps back weakly. What could have possibly changed in the minute since she'd last seen him? WHAT HAD HAPPENED? She turned to see Zuko's sister attacking her own sister and her blood ran cold. The empty pit which had formed inside her was suddenly filled with anger instead. AZULA! She was the cause of this! It was her fault he'd changed his mind, she knew it! The several Dai Li who stood between her and Masami and Azula didn't dissuade her a bit as her newfound rage turned to flames.

Masami fended off the fire princess's attack, wanting to get past her as quickly as possible to assist Aang in any way she could. She whipped some water at Azula but her attack missed. Masami glowered and growled softly. She'd had just about enough of this bitch. That twisted little smile and that condescending attitude was really pissing her off. Masami ducked to avoid a fire ball and took advantage of their location right by the river. She lifted a large portion of the river into a wave by Azula and splooshed it onto the ground, purposely missing the fire princess, who smirked.

**"Is that really the best you can do, little peasant?"** she taunted.

Then Masami froze it. Azula, who'd been previously standing on a puddle of water was now standing on a very slippery layer of ice. She sputtered and skidded, trying to keep her balance. Masami gathered more water to her and began shooting a series of vertical and horizontal discs at her target. Azula managed to dodge them all, except for one. Masami's fifth slice met its mark, slicing a nasty gash cleanly across Azula's shoulder blade and clipping her neck, drawing blood. Azula shrieked and this time, it was Masami's turn to smirk. Her sense of victory didn't last long, however, as a large slice of fire appeared beside her. Fortunately, Kali appeared beside her as well, blocking Zuko's attack. Azula had recovered, despite her wound, and was now racing towards them. Masami caught of glimpse of Aang clambering out of a large pit in the ground and ran to assist him as the Dai Li advanced on him. She whipped at them viciously with dual water whips as she struggled to protect Aang.

**"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"** shouted Kali brokenly at Zuko, who's expression changed from firm to pained as his fighting stance faltered slightly.

**"Because he knows it's for the best,"** replied the cold, calculating voice of his sister, who was advancing on Kali, **"Because he never really loved you, little fool. Zuko was just biding his time for the best chance to capture the Avatar so that he might regain his honor and claim his rightful place on the throne as heir to the Fire Lord. So that he might finally earn our father's love. Isn't that right, Zuzu?"**

The two girls turned to face Zuko, one looking confident and in control, the other looking desperate and pleading.

**"Zuko, love isn't something you should have to earn! And you don't have to regain your honor, it's something you already have if you'll just display it!"** cried Kali.

**"Do you really believe that?" **interjected Azula mockingly, **"Come now, Zuzu, be honest. Would you really choose this poor half-bred peasant and her supposed claim of honor over true honor and power and your family?"  
**  
Zuko's face was filled with conflict once again, his eyes half-closed and his teeth gritted.

**"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU FUCKIN BITCH!"** screamed Kali violently, lashing out with all her might at Azula, who looked slight taken aback by the sudden vigor with which Kali rammed her into a wall with her attack. Kali swiped away Azula's attacks, advancing on her bitterly with the dark intention of following Masami's lead and giving her a scar even worse than Zuko's. Her rage was completely focused on Azula, as was her attention, so she was completely unprepared when Zuko knocked her into the river with a fire stream.

**"No,"** he said, ever so slightly shakily, answering Azula's question, **"I wouldn't."**

Azula, still a bit shaken, stood then, having successfully manipulated her brother, regained her consciousness and smirked.

Kali bobbed to the surface of the river and attempted to pull herself out, but was forced to block an assault on her face as Azula struck her. Having fended off the first assault and climbed out of the river, she wasn't able to block the second assault, slamming into some crystals beside her near where Masami and Aang were still fighting the ever increasing numbers of Dai Li agents.

**"There's too many of them,"** she heard Aang mutter fearfully, as the Dai Li, joined by the royals, surrounded the three of them. As she recovered her breath and forced herself back to her feet, Aang backed up a little ways past her.  
**  
"I'm sorry Masami,"** she heard him say quietly and before she could react, he had sealed himself beneath several crystals. What in the world was he doing? Kali joined Masami in fighting back against the Dai Li and helped stop the fire siblings' attacks, though she was starting to run out of steam, now bruised and weakened.

**"There's too many of them,"** Masami shouted, echoing Aang's sentiment. She suddenly noticed the Avatar's absence.

**"Where's Aang?"** she cried desperately, frightened by his disappearance. At that crucial moment, however, he reappeared.

**"Aang!"** she screamed in excitement as he rose from the crystals, in the glowing power of the Avatar state. Wind swirled violently and light shown all around him as he rose still higher, preparing for a massive attack. Masami and Kali stared up at him, resisting the wind blowing against them. _We're saved_, thought Masami, They're in for it now! She smiled a huge smile. Kali looked on the Avatar with a mix of awe and terror. She'd never before seen him clearly in his Avatar state, thought she'd caught a glimpse from afar at the North Pole. As Aang lifted his hands, however, there was a flash of light, a loud crack, and echoing boom and his body convulsed violently and spastically. The two girls stared in utter terror as the Avatar began to fall, smoke rising from his body. A shoe which had previously been Aang's hit Kali in the face as Masami shrieked louder than she'd ever heard her shriek before.

**"!"** she screamed and ran forward faster than Kali'd ever seen her move before. Kali, recovering from the impact of the shoe and scene, followed her, only then noticing Azula and realizing that the fire princess had struck him down with lightning.

Dai Li tried to stop Masami in her pursuit of her falling Avatar. She pulled water towards her arms, and froze it, dispelling it from her in a flurry of ice daggers. She could see red in the corners of her eyes as some of the ice made its mark. She didn't care what happened to those men now, they were useless for following Azula; more useless then they'd been before. When more barred her path, along with the Fire Prince, she pulled water up under her feet, and rode it over their heads and right through them. She reached Aang as he fell.

She caught him, falling on the ground with the force of his fall. She pressed him into her body, and she could see a Dai Li agent approaching, but he was soon stopped by a fiery kick to the back of the head. Kali emerged from behind the falling body. All the blood in her ears kept Masami from hearing him screaming, but she knew he was. She didn't care. She hoped he died, she hoped they all did for what they had done to her and the rest of the World.

She looked up to see Kali standing near her, and she knew they had to get out of here, but they couldn't at this point. Was this the end? She feared it was, but if guessed if it were, at least she had her love and her sister with her there at the end; they were the best things in her life. As it seemed, this wasn't the end, from nowhere, Zuko's uncle jumped between them and the advancing Fire Nation royals.

"**You've got to get out of here! I'll hold them off as long as I can!"** He told them sternly. Kali looked to Masami and she nodded, Masami held Aang to her tightly, and pulled the water she'd used to get to Aang back to her, and she pushed herself and Aang up towards the ceiling.

"**Kali! Come on!"** She cried, her voice cracking.

"**No, I'm not leaving Uncle."** She called back. Masami watched, as the scene got smaller and smaller.

Back on the ground, Kali took her spot next to Iroh.

"**I told you to go!"** He said, there wasn't time for this.

"**No! I won't leave you."** She told him, holding her stance. For a moment his fierce, battle-hardened expression lifted and his face took on a kind, but firm expression.

**"Kali, you have been a loyal companion and a loving friend. But the time has come now for us to part. You must go with your sister and the Avatar. They will need your help."** Kali stared back at him, taking a step back hesitantly. He smiled back at her in attempt to reassure her. **"I will see you again, I am sure."** He assured, and she made off after her sister, glancing back at Iroh as he stood his own against his own family. With one last sad glance, she propelled herself up and out of the cavern, to see her sister a few yards away. She seemed to be struggling to carry the Avatar alone.

"**Need some help?"** Kali offered quietly as she caught up.

"**No I do-! Oh, sorry. It's you. I didn't mean to snap."** She sighed defeatedily. They both looked up as Appa landed before them. Sokka, Kuei, Ariana, Bosco, Toph and the two lemurs were on his back. Kali and Masami moved faster, towards the Bison. Kali climbed up first, and held her hands down to gently pull Aang onto Appa as well. Masami crawled up after them, and he was handed back to her as she got up. She didn't know what to do, but a vague idea flitted through her mind. She reached for her neck, pulling the vile Pakku had given her from beneath her robe. She wasn't sure if this would work, but there was nothing else she could do. She pulled the top of the bottle off with her teeth, and spit the top over the side of Appa(where far below it actually smacked a Dai Li agent in the head rather harshly). She used her hand to pull the water out, and she could remember what she'd been taught, so she spun the water, trying to get some energy flowing. She hadn't been very good at healing previously, but she had to try. She leaned him against her shoulder, and pressed the water into the grotesque scorch mark in his back, and she held her breath.

She could see his arrows light up and she could feel him groan lightly. She released a shaky breath and pulled back in enough time to see him open his eyes and smile weakly. He wasn't dead? She'd saved him? She felt herself shake lightly, and tears spill from her eyes as she smiled back at him. She cradled him close to her as they rode away from Ba Sing Se.

XOXO

Zuko stared away from his sister as he stood in the throne room of the Earth King, feeling as though everything were floating. It didn't feel real. It was as if everything up to this point had been a dream and he was still trapped in it. If only he could wake up...

**"We've done it Zuko,"** he heard his sister say, **"It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se."  
**  
**"I betrayed Uncle,"** he heard himself say dejectedly and he turned to his back to his sister. Everything felt so wrong...but hadn't he made the choice he was meant to make? The choice any good loyal prince would make? The choice his father would want him to make? Hadn't it been right? He felt slow and confused.

**"No, he betrayed you. Zuko, when you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero."**

Father.

**"But I don't have the Avatar,"** Zuko replied worriedly, **"What if Father doesn't restore my honor?"  
**  
Honor. Kali had said he already had it. Azula touched him and he turned to face her.

**"He doesn't need to, Zuko. Today, you restored your own honor."**

Zuko turned back away from her. He couldn't stand having her there; couldn't stand being anywhere near her right now. He closed his eyes, feeling somewhat sick and pained. Uncle. And Kali...he'd betrayed them both. In the wake of doing such a thing, could he really have restored his honor? Was this really what being 'honorable' entailed? He clenched his fists then walked away swiftly, leaving the throne room, then breaking into a run. He walked through the quiet streets for a long time before he stopped and realized where he was. He looked up silently in the darkness at the old apartment building. He spent the rest of the night sitting on top of the roof, staring out over the conquered cityscape and occasionally glancing up at the gleaming moon.

XOXO

Kali stared down at her sobbing sister and the Avatar, feeling hot tears fall down her face as well. She felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare she'd never be able to wake up from. Her world seemed to have crashed down around her. Zuko had betrayed her...he didn't care about her...Uncle was gone, captured or worse...and the Avatar was severely injured, seemingly in danger of dying, and Masami was broken, weeping. Kali gently reached over and hugged Masami tightly to her. Masami kept her grip on Aang with one hand and gripped Kali just as tightly with the other. Through her tears, Kali gazed up at the sky, trembling. Behind them, as they passed over the outer walls of Ba Sing Se, she heard the Earth King speak in a sad, quiet voice.

**"The Earth Kingdom...has fallen."**


	19. Might Want Those Back

The Gaang, could they even call it that anymore? Was now all safely aboard a Fire Nation ship taken over by Sokka's father and the rest of the Water Tribe warriors. The group recounted their exploits in getting the ship as Masami sat with the group, holding a bowl in front of her. She had taken a few bites, and they made her stomach churn. She'd swallow them, set her bowl down and go back below deck.

Above deck, she'd learned that Ariana had taken care of "loose ends" back in the palace, with her no one really wanted to know what that meant. She and Kuei had decided to see the world, and vowed they would meet again with the group, and set out with their bears. Mimi, the newest lemur, had taken to Masami and started sitting with her as she seemed sad. Masami figured that might have been why she took towards her rather then anyone else for the time being. Kali wasn't much of a talker either, but she'd recently found some large cat she seemed to know and it seemed to keep her fine company.

Sokka informed her Ariana had also freed he and Toph and she was glad they were okay. She may not have shown it, but deep down she was. She didn't want to lose anyone else. She loved her friends, even as dysfunctional as they could be at times.

So, this day like any other day this voyage, she made her way back to the room they kept Aang in. The last sign of life she'd seen in him was the night right after he'd been shot down, and he opened his eyes and looked at her, if only for a moment. She didn't understand how people worked, or why he wouldn't wake up now, but from the time she'd sat with Pappi before he past on, she knew he was still with her since he was breathing and had a heartbeat. If only there were something else she could do, but she didn't think there was.

She would roll him over and take a bit of water to his mark every day. She was getting better in this healing business. She didn't care that the scar was there, that wasn't her hope with the continued work on his back. Her hope was that, maybe by some miracle he'd open his eyes, and everything would start to be okay again.

She knew even if he was okay for now, rationally, he wasn't guaranteed to be okay the next day. None of them were. She could be gone before this war was over, but she didn't like to think about that. But she knew if it came down to it, she would kill someone if it meant Aang, Kali or any of their other friends. She wouldn't let this happen again, she couldn't handle it; and she didn't want anyone else to have to.

She leaned against the head board of the bed she'd been keeping Aang on, and she ran her hand over his head. He was getting hair. It struck her as strange seeing him with hair, but at the same time she didn't hate it. She touched it lightly, it was just fuzz at this point. Dark fuzz. Was his hair black? It appeared to be. She smiled lightly, a sad smile.

"You need to wake up Aang. The world needs The Avatar." She choked, "I need you too." She felt herself choke again, but she swallowed it. She wasn't going to cry anymore. She told herself that this morning and she would hold to it as best she could. She breathed a shaky breath, and she exhaled just the same. She closed her eyes, and she felt the lemur in her lap shift lightly, make a curious noise up at her.

"What are you going to do with me, Mimi?" She asked with a forced laugh. She chattered, and she crawled into her arms, rubbing her face against hers. She patted the lemur, she was very thankful for the little animal. She had Mushi(she'd brought her pouch with him in it wherever she went in Ba Sing Se, he didn't like to stay home, he was a well traveled Pentapus) but he wasn't much of a companion, not like Mimi turned out to be.

Most of her nights were spent in this fashion, she would eat a few bites, go heal Aang and then sit with him. She'd talk to him off and on, never a real conversation. She would sometimes sleep, though sometimes she'd just sit all night by his side. She'd think of the times they had had together; the festival, the first time they'd met, when they'd looked at the stars, the sleepless night when Toph first joined them, their first fight, losing Appa. It seemed a chain of memories, but they'd only know each other a short time. Though, she could wager, it was the best time of her life.

She wanted to wake up, and have this all have been a bad dream. She knew Kali was hurting and as much as it pained her to wish her sister away, but her being back with them meant something had happened to her and the Fire Prince. From what she'd seen in the cave, she could guess he was something akin to what Aang was to her, and now? He was in no better a place thing Aang was. Betrayal hurt worse then anything usually, and it seemed that's what her sister was faced with.

Masami felt terrible about being so caught up in her own problem, but it wasn't a petty issue at least, it was worth the stress. She knew Kali understood, but she did want to know what happened, but she also knew Kali would tell her when she was ready. She didn't have to now, she didn't have to ever, but Masami knew she would. They shared everything, but now, wasn't a time for sharing. It was a time for reflecting and trying to move forward, but moving forward wasn't exactly a sure path for her at this time. It seemed a distant, scattered path that had no certain outcome.

So, this was her journey at sea. While she slept and cared for Aang, her sister suffered as she did, and her friends worried for Aang, but rejoiced in each other. It seemed Hakoda was proud of his children's choices of others, and she was glad for them. She knew it meant a lot to the both of them to have their father's approval, and she was glad they could be pleased in someway. She was glad she never had to have approval from a family; though she had Kali and she knew there was approval there. Though at this point, Masami wasn't so sure of Kali's choice of men, but regardless, she knew her sister knew what was best for herself, or she hoped she did. Masami always hadn't known, but the day she'd met Aang, she knew for a fact she did know. She knew where her would lie, where it did lie, and where it always would.

XOXO

The past couple of weeks had been hell. Kali was still trying to convince herself that the first week had been the worst and that the worst was now over. She wasn't very convincing unfortunately. Despite having Masami around again, which she was glad for, overall, Kali felt intensely uncomfortable on the hijacked Fire Nation ship. Some of the Water Tribe members, despite the kindness shown her by their leader Hakoda, made it clear they did not trust her one bit. Sokka was among those who obviously questioned where her loyalties truly lied. And Jet and Katara, who'd apparently run into the Avatar's group at some point or another, certainly weren't happy to see her face. She'd been trying really hard to avoid them, but she'd eventually confronted them one day when Jet had accused her of burning down villages. She'd had a chat with them about Earth Kingdom prison camps and losing her mother in a fire set by Fire Nation soldiers. That'd shut them up for the time being anyway. She couldn't really blame any of them though. She'd spent several months traveling around helping the prince of the Fire Nation. The possibility that their relationship had been more than that of a prince and cook was being circulated around as well. What could she really say, apart from that she'd never betray her sister or the rest of the world for the Fire Nation? It hadn't helped her case any either when they'd first commandeered the ship. To her shock and dismay, she'd met a few familiar faces when they'd boarded and found herself pleading with Hakoda that the crew simply be locked up rather than killed. Kahn, Garron, Jee, and Hadji had all been on board the ship. Seemed Jee had moved up in rank after some brave actions he'd taken in the North Pole. Garron too. She wasn't sure how Kahn and Hadji had made it back into the better graces of the Fire Nation Navy. At any rate, she'd been horrified to think of them being killed and eventually, after she'd offered the reasoning that someone had to show them how to properly run the Fire Nation ship and bluff that they were the true crew, Hakoda had consented to spare the crew and simply keep them captive. One of the other warriors had suggested they could always be used later as hostages if necessary. It was only later, after they'd been imprisoned, that Kali managed to slip down to visit them and give Garrow the carving Obi'd handed her that dark night at the North Pole. She hadn't stayed long though, not wanting to arouse any more suspicion than she already had.

At any rate, the only one she could really count on to trust her was Masami. And Masami was still trying to deal with the loss of her Avatar. Aang wasn't dead as of yet, but he was still obviously in real danger of it. It was a terrible burden for Masami to have to bear and Kali did her best to remember to check in on her off and on throughout the day, as Masami spent a lot of time in Aang's room with his unconscious body. She hoped he'd wake up soon, more than anything for her sister's sake.

The first week really had been very awful, especially at night. She'd been prone to crying, something she hadn't dealt with since the night her mother'd died. She'd been upset when Pappi had died, of course, and sad for a while, but she'd only cried over that occasionally. The first night there hadn't really been too much time for it because they'd been so busy flying Appa, finding the Water Tribe warriors, and hijacking the Fire Nation ship. She'd still largely been in shock too. After that, however, it'd been all downhill. The first night aboard the ship she'd been completely surrounded by memories of Zuko and unable to get away from them no matter what. His absence in her bed for the first time in a little over a month made sleeping virtually impossible. She'd spent lots of time crying into her pillow and struggling to keep a straight face whenever she was outside of her room. She talked to herself way too often and talked very little to others. One day, she'd gotten so bitter and angry at herself for ever trusting Zuko, for ever thinking he'd consider her good enough for him, that she'd punched the small mirror in her room, shattering it loudly and cutting her hand and arm up pretty badly. Embarrassed at her lack of self control and furious at herself for having been so furious, she'd sworn rather profusely and hadn't even ventured out of her room for dinner until everyone but the night guards and helmsman were asleep. She'd done all she could to clean up the room and told whoever happened to ask that she'd slipped and knocked something into the mirror, breaking it and cutting her. She felt like Masami hadn't been completely convinced but supposed that wasn't too surprising. She spent a lot of time wandering around the ship, just walking, usually outside.

Thankfully, after the first week, she'd finally managed to put an end to the crying for the most part. She felt it would just be ridiculous to carry on with so much crying. It wasn't like that was going to help things. Her nightly walks helped to distract her and eventually she'd stumbled across an even better distraction. One night, in the hours of the early morning, she heard a loud shrieking that sounded like the lemurs, and hurried over to the source of the noise. Sure enough it was the lemurs and, much to their dismay, they appeared to have made a new friend. A huge ginger cat with a long red stripe down its back and several other red markings on its face and body appeared to be trying to play with them, rolling on its back and batting at them in a half-hearted, playful manner. She frowned and approached it hesitantly. It didn't seem hostile but it was about the size of an Arctic tiger (which she'd seen in the North Pole attacking Fire Nation soldiers during the siege) so there was good reason for caution. At her approach, the cat flopped over to look at her curiously. She squinted. Some sort of connection in her mind was suddenly made. Garron was here so…

**"Fireball?"** she asked hesitantly.

**"Maow!"**

The cat's sudden reaction caught her off guard and she stumbled back as he leapt on her, knocking her over. He licked her face and rubbed against her, apparently very glad at having found a familiar face. She was just as glad to see him, though very startled. She spent a while sitting on the deck, petting him and scratching his ears, while he purred and rubbed against her. The lemurs meanwhile chittered nervously nearby and watched him warily. Fireball soon became a frequent companion for Kali. Seemed Garron had managed to smuggle him on board but had had very little time to spend with him, other than to feed him twice each day a little of the crew's rations. The cat followed her around often during her walks and enjoyed sleeping in her bed. Even if he took up over half the bed, she was glad for the company. He was something warm and fuzzy to hold on to and, thanks to him, she actually started to get more sleep at night. During the day, Fireball usually did his own thing, playing with the irritated lemurs or wandering around making mischief among the Water Tribe warriors. Having been discovered by Kali and asked to be allowed to live among them as he was basically just a big softy like his former master, Fireball had free reign around the ship and the Water Tribe members seemed to all accept him, even though some of them were a bit afraid of him. The cat's diet consisted mainly of water and fish, these days, which Kali was in charge of providing to him. She was thankful that he seemed uninterested in making enemies with any of the other animals in the group, especially the lemurs, since he could have considered them food potentially. On the contrary, the cat seemed only interested in playing with the lemurs and curious when it came to Appa and Mushi. Overall, Fireball, despite the memories of Zuko attached to him as well, was just the companion she needed in a time like this. He didn't fix things for her, of course, but he made them much more bearable than they had been previously.

XOXO

Aang didn't recall how he got to the Spirit World. All he knew was he was in Ba Sing Se, then he was here, facing Roku. Did that imply he never made it out of that cave? He couldn't remember much, though he could remember screams, pain, and a flash of something.

"**What happened?"** Aang asked Roku. He looked morose.

"**The question is more what do you want to happen?"  
**

"**How did I get here?"  
**

"**That is of no importance at this time, you simply need to decide where you are to go from here."**

"**I want to go back to my friends."** Aang said, without having to think about it, Roku nodded, and Aang felt like he was falling, then seemed to hit the floor. He was in a room, looking around, there were men he didn't recognize, and there was a man in there who looked a bit like Sokka. Then, there was Sokka. He seemed fond of the man, could he have been his father?

Aang couldn't hear them, and figured without any acknowledgement thus far, they probably couldn't see him. He watched them, and followed them as they left the kitchen area, up onto the deck. Once on the deck, he could see Jet, Emi and Katara gathered around talking, and he looked past them to see more Water Tribe members. He could see many people around, but the one person he wanted to see more then the others, he did not see.

He looked around, almost frantically, and he spied someone come up the stairs. She was thin and tall, and there was something very familiar about her, but he didn't know what it was right away, until he got a better look at her face, and he could see her eyes. They didn't match. She was Masami's sister! How had she ended up here? He didn't understand.

He watched her for a while, and was uneasy about the fact he still hadn't seen Masami. He remembered he'd seen Kali come from the underside of the ship. He ran down the hallways, and he looked in every door. Finally, he came to a door where he could see a closed door. He walked through it, and he looked around the room, and his eyes landed quickly on a sleeping pair on the bed. The girl was Masami, and he assumed the rather lifeless form beside her was him.

He ran his hand over her face, and he went through her, she stirred lightly, pulling the covers up over her more, seemingly cold all of a sudden. He swallowed, and he could see she looked not as well as he remembered. He knew then, there was no way he was leaving now. Beyond her, he had his other friends, and he had many things left to do, and there way he was staying down.

XOXO

Adjusting to change had never come easily to Zuko. These past couple of weeks had been no exception. Azula had immediately set about firmly establishing the Fire Nation's hold on Ba Sing Se, sending for two generals to bring their troops in to take over the city, which had happened within days of the message being received. The Dai Li had torn down the outer wall, making the city easy to access. Zuko did what was required of him to assist her but put little heart into it, still greatly troubled by the absence of Kali and Uncle and very worried that his father would still not accept him once he arrived home. Kali's last words to him before and during the battle in the caverns seemed to echo over and over in his head, as did Uncle's. Uncle was being held in a heavily guarded prison by the Dai Li on Azula's orders and Zuko could not decide whether he wanted to visit him or not. The thought of seeing Uncle again, locked up, pained him, yet he felt he desperately could use some of his advice right now. It'd been Uncle's own fault though. What had he been thinking, betraying the Fire Nation like that? Zuko struggled regularly with thoughts of the choices he, Uncle, and Kali had made. He felt bad, as if he had betrayed them, yet Uncle had betrayed his own nation and, in a way, so had Kali. She was a firebender, after all. She should've been loyal to the Fire Nation in the first place. And by betraying the Fire Nation, they'd betrayed him too, right? He'd just done what he'd had to do; made the choice that was necessary out of loyalty to his nation and his father.

His memories in Ba Sing Se seemed to be distant now, tinged by their ultimate ending below the city. During the first week, he'd found himself drawn to the old streets and buildings that had been a part of his regular routine for the past month, wandering past the restaurants he and Kali had gone on dates too, the Firelight Fountain, the old apartment, and Pao's tea shop frequently. With Kali gone now, he felt as if a part of him had been removed as well. All their old haunts seemed darker and always left him feeling moodier than before. Soon enough he'd stopped visiting them and, instead, gone out of his way to avoid them. As much as he tried to ignore how deeply the loss had hit him, ultimately, Zuko couldn't deny that he missed Kali terribly. All of his reasoning for his actions and the logic behind his choice couldn't ever seem to keep the last look she'd given him as she'd escaped through the ceiling of the caverns with her sister, a look of pure pain and anger, from appearing in his mind whenever he shut his eyes. And whenever that look appeared behind his eyes, he always felt guilty, no matter whom he thought had betrayed whom. His thoughts regularly returned to her and Uncle, even in the midst of talking to someone else or performing some task. He often wondered where she was now and what she and the Avatar's friends were doing now that the Avatar was gone. He wondered, to a lesser degree, if the Avatar was really gone. He slept much less than he had before and couldn't seem to ever get truly comfortable in his new large bed. It always felt too empty.

He couldn't stand to be around Azula right now any longer than he deemed necessary. For important meetings, when she actually bothered to include him in them, and for more social occasions which he felt pressed to engage in, he would tolerate her. But being around his brilliant, triumphant, perfect sister was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now. Ty Lee was a similar story. She was just WAY TOO HAPPY. Why was she so happy anyway? It was soooo annoying. He couldn't help scowling every time he was around her. Mai was the only one he didn't mind spending time with. Her mostly apathetic attitude wasn't too terribly offensive, yet she seemed to prefer his company over that of the other girls as well, which was somewhat nice. She was a relatively quiet companion and when she did speak it was usually either an appealingly sarcastic observation or a kind word or question aimed at him. He'd liked Mai more than the others since they were young and she'd always seemed to reciprocate that feeling. He'd even had a crush on her, though he'd never wanted to admit it to anyone, for fear of being shot down. That crush was somewhat refreshed upon seeing her again but was stunted by his sadness over losing Kali. They ate together regularly though and sometimes even went out on what he supposed could be considered dates. He wasn't sure what she considered it. Glum as he was, he was quite oblivious to how she perked up whenever he took her out or when he actually bothered to compliment her on something. Having her around wasn't the same as having Kali there, but it was something. She made things a little easier for him than they could have been. She helped him pretend sometimes that he hadn't had a girlfriend in Ba Sing Se; that he hadn't ever thought about leaving behind all his hopes and dreams of the Fire Nation just for a new life with her. After all, that would've been a foolish mistake no Fire Nation prince in his right mind would ever make.

About a week and a half had passed before he'd returned to the apartment they'd moved to right before Azula had appeared. He'd felt ill at ease as he entered, with it so absent of life. Already there was a spider web in one corner where there most certainly would not have been had Uncle and Kali been around. Azula had suggested he might bother to stop by before the building was remade into one of the many living spaces for the Fire Nation army in case he might find 'some sentimental little keepsake you'd like to remember your fake life by." He hadn't intended to go but, at the last minute, had felt almost compelled to look through it.

He'd glanced through the kitchen, noting Uncle's little statue and thinking of that day of the celebration when Kali had bought it for him…and that night. He'd breezed through the main room and taken a brief look in Uncle's room. Finding nothing of interest, he'd reluctantly entered the room he and Kali had shared. Having piled their belongings on the bed, he'd found there was nothing of his he cared for, so he'd glanced down at hers. Among them was her bandanna that she'd worn nearly every day he'd known her up until they'd gotten jobs in Ba Sing Se, the dress she'd worn that first night of the festival, and her sketch book. He'd rarely seen her use the book, but he'd known, as he'd flipped absently through the pages, that she must have put a lot of work into it over the years. He'd found the first page she'd done since he'd first met her. A hasty drawing of Uncle and some of the men on the ship. He'd continued on to more serious portraits of them, which seemed to have been posed for, perhaps even requested. He'd wondered oddly where he was. One or two pages with doodles that appeared to be of her sister, perhaps because she'd missed her so much. He'd found his first appearance. It appeared to be an exaggerated, unflattering picture of him when he'd still had his ponytail. He was yelling at an also exaggerated looking Kali who was holding a mop and looking annoyed. He'd scowled and skimmed through a few more pages. She hadn't done too many drawings on the ship and even fewer after they'd lost the ship. He'd eventually gotten to the Ba Sing Se ones. They were nice pictures of the city and there was one unfinished one of Uncle which, based on how carefully it seemed to have been crafted, he guessed had been intended as a gift for Uncle. He'd found the last page she sketched on. It too was unfinished. This time it was of him and it was exaggerated or unflattering. It was simply a beginning sketch of him smiling by what he thought was the Fire Light Fountain. Next to him was sitting the beginnings of Kali. Both of them looked very happy and were sitting close together, obviously holding hands.

He'd sat down on the bed they'd only spent one night together in and thought about that one night. They'd all been so tired from their first day working in Uncle's tea shop and he remembered he'd fallen asleep pretty fast after they'd gotten in the bed, with Kali close beside. He'd woken up a couple of hours later and drowsily found Kali's head right against his, one of her arms draped across him, and her whole body facing him. Having her that close in that position had made it hard for him to get back to sleep, especially when she'd moved her hand down in her sleep a bit, tickling him and leaving it draped over an especially sensitive spot. That'd woken him up fully and he'd had a tough time of it managing himself. She was asleep after all and to disturb her would likely be a mistake. Besides, he'd thought uneasily, she wouldn't be receptive to that kind of thing probably. Not yet anyway. And what if she were? he'd thought gulping uncomfortably. What if she was actually…good at it and he…wasn't? What if he failed at it like he did at everything else? It'd taken some time but eventually she'd shifted in her sleep so that he was much more comfortable physically anyway. She'd woken herself up ever so slightly in doing so, it'd seemed, and had turned to look at him.

**"Zuko?"** she'd mumbled half-coherently.

**"Go back to sleep,"** he'd whispered back, stroking his fingers through her hair for a moment.

"Kay," she'd whispered back and settled herself back into her pillow, **"Love you."**

Those two words had kept him up for several more minutes before he'd fallen back to sleep from sheer tiredness. "Love you." She hadn't seemed to remember it at all the next morning based on how she'd acted, but he hadn't been able to forget them since. Sitting in their room on their bed, all alone, he'd felt bitter regret. He'd closed his eyes, dropped his head into his hands, and let three tears fall from his eyes. Then he'd forced himself up with a sudden fierceness, determined to leave it all behind, and begun to storm out of the apartment. At the last minute, however, he'd stopped and hesitantly come back, grabbing the sketchbook and bandanna. Maybe…there was a chance…he'd see her again. She might want those back…


	20. I have hair?

Aang didn't know what hit him, but it felt like something heavy. He sat up, shaking a bit. He struggled to get to a sitting position. He held his gut as he did, he could see badges on himself, and he didn't understand what was happening.

**"****What happened?"** He wondered out loud. He looked around, and he could see he was on a bed in a room that was a bit dark. He looked around, the room was fairly blank, save for the large Fire Nation banner behind him. He gasped, tumbling off the bed.

_**"**_**Oh no!"** He cried, he grabbed for his staff, and made a b-line for the large door of the room. He pull it open lightly, and he looked out, seeing no one in the dark corridor, he hobbled out of the room, bracing himself on his glider. He staggered down the hallway, and he looked towards the corner of the corridor. He turned it, but back tracked, slamming his back into the wall. One soldier he'd spotted was very huge, while the other was the opposite and sat on his shoulders.

_**"**_**You hear something?"** The huge one asked. Aang gasped, and he moved as fast as he could to attack the soldiers. He created a gust of air with his staff, then staggered down the corridor further.

_**"**_**He's awake!"** One cried.

Above deck, Masami sat against the side of the ship, this was one of the first times anyone(Kali) had been able to get her to come up for air. She stroked Mimi and Momo as they both lay curled up in her lap. Beside her, Kali struggled to draw with Fireball sprawled out in her lap. All attention went to the stairs as a thumping came up from below deck. Cries could be heard coming from behind the clunking and Masami was on her feet in a few seconds. Momo flying ahead of her, landing just before the stairs.

_**"**_**Momo?"** He asked, perplexed. All attention that wasn't on the stairs before was now. Momo flew to Aang shoulder and licked his face happily.

_**"**_**Twinkle-Toes, that's got to be you."** Toph said happily, turning her head lightly. Masami dropped to the ground beside him, and threw her arms around his neck. He was surprised, he didn't understand why everyone was so excited to see him.

_**"**_**You're awake."** Masami breathed shakily into his shoulder. He turned his head to speak back to her lightly as she pulled back to look at him a bit.

**"Are you sure? I feel like I'm dreaming."** He said lightly, rubbing his eye with his fist cutely as he pushed himself up to stand.

_**"**_**You're not dreaming. You're finally awake."** Masami confirmed happily, she looked back as the rest of the group started to approach.

_**"**_**Aang, good to see you back with the living, buddy."** Sokka said happily from behind the mask of a fire nation soldier.

**"Sokka?"** He asked weakly as he started to sway a bit.

_**"**_**Uh-oh! Somebody catch him, he's gonna..."** He collapsed before Toph could finish her sentence. Masami caught him, his weight pulling her down in her rush.

XOXO

Zuko stared out over the sea, the thoughts filling his head beginning to verge on overwhelming. He clenched the railing and looked up at the moon. It did him no good these days to look at the moon, as the two things that always came most readily to mind looking at it where the events of the North Pole and the night he and Kali had stayed up til it was nearly dawn on the roof of their apartment, not so long ago. All of that seemed worlds away now, yet, somehow, he still felt as though it'd all happened the day before. It was strange and he scowled heavily at the moon, confused by the many thoughts and concerns that were fighting to dominate his mind at the moment. His past, present, and future were threatening to tear him apart and he furrowed his brow and leaned his head into the palm of his head, groaning softly. He heard someone come up next to him and hoped very heartily that it wasn't Azula.

**"Aren't you cold?"** asked the calm, low voice of Mai.

He looked up at her, feeling reassured.

**"I've got a lot on my mind,"** he replied, looking back out at the night, **"It's been so long. Over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed…"  
**  
He knew he'd changed. Something had happened, particularly over this past month. Something inside him…was different in a way that he was sure there was no turning back from. He felt the effects of it every day now.

Mai sighed next to him.

**"I just asked if you were cold. I didn't ask for your whole life story."**  
He frowned and looked away from her, but felt his face turned back as she gently wrapped her arms around him and pulled him around to look at her.

**"Stop worrying,"** she said, smiling. With their faces so close and the way she was looking at him, Zuko tensed up inside. He leaned in slightly, instinctively, and, before he knew it, she was kissing him and he was returning the kiss. It was a short kiss but Mai seemed pleased by it and left him quietly to enter the warm interior of the ship. Zuko looked back out to sea, unsure of how to feel about it. Part of him was pleased, relieved to have someone there for him in this way, but the greater part of him just felt guilty. He'd closed his eyes during the kiss and all he'd been able to see was Kali.

XOXO

Kali knelt down beside her sister, watching over the unconscious avatar. She was excited that he'd finally woken up. She hadn't seen her sister this overjoyed or relieved in a long time. The boy lay on deck, with a blanket draped over him and his head in Masami's lap. All of the crew and the Avatar's group were in good cheer at having had him awaken, even if only briefly.

Kali glanced up warily as Jet and several of his posse passed by, dressed in Fire Nation soldier garb. They'd recently met up with two more members of his old 'freedom fighter' group, The Duke and Pipsqueak, and all of the group was excitedly discussing Aang's revival, as well as catching up on what each other had been doing. As they passed by, Sokka approached them, temporarily changed into a more casual outfit than the Fire Nation firebender's armor he'd been wearing a lot of late. She blinked several times and stared at his pants. They were…very familiar.

**"What're you staring at?"** asked Sokka, giving her a weirded-out expression.

**"Err, um…"** she started awkwardly.

**"Oh she's just sooo fascinated by your spectacular old pants, Sokka,"** replied Masami sarcastically.

**"Hey, these pants aren't that old,"** he replied, **"I got them for free courtesy of Aang bringing them home one day and they're really comfortable, even if they're a little big. Besides, I think the patches on the back are really stylish. Trendy!"  
**  
He smiled widely and turned himself so that Kali could better see the large patches located on his buttocks.

Kali smiled wryly, **"Very nice….you said Aang brought them home one day? Where'd he get them?"  
**  
Sokka shrugged.

**"He said he got them from some hog monkeys who stole them and couldn't find the owners or something. Why?"**

**"Err, well, I think those were…"** she sighed, **"Zuko's pants that went missing one day. I recognize the 'stylish' patches."**

Sokka looked startled then scowled down at the pants as if they'd said something very insulting.

**"Well, in that case, there's no way I'm ever wearing these pants again! I'm going to go burn them right now in fact!"**

With that, he started to storm off then paused thoughtfully.

**"Or maybe I'll just rip them apart or throw them overboard or something. Burning them is just too…firebender-y."**

He went below deck and Kali turned back around, hearing Masami gasp lightly, as Aang finally woke up again.

Aang started to struggle, and he looked unconscientiously, his eyes half lidded, he tensed as he realized he was laying in someone's lap, and had unintentionally looked up someone's robe. Masami felt the body in her lap tense, and she looked down and could see Aang's partly lidded eyes. She smirked.

"**Aang?"** She asked lightly. He looked a bit relieved for some reason. He struggled to sit up, and she tugged him calmly. She was pleased that he was awake again.

"**Why are we on a Fire Nation ship? Why is everyone dressed this way? And why am I the only one out of it?"** Aang seemed distraught. He looked at Kali, and then back to Masami. He didn't understand everything yet, but he knew she meant no harm to him, he could trust that much.

**"Don't get ahead of yourself Aang, just relax."** Masami said with a smile, running a hand up and down his arm soothingly. She looked up as Kali spoke quietly.

"**I like your hair."** She smiled lightly. Aang's hands flew to his head.

"**I have hair? How long was I out?"** He cried, touching his head.

**"A few weeks."** Kali informed him. Masami nodded. He seemed distraught, but he nodded, dropping his head,

"**Come on, let's get you to bed."** Masami told him, urging him back below deck. She supported him as they made their way down below deck, and she knocked his door open with her hip. She sat him on the bed, and he slouched lightly. She rubbed his arm again, and he looked at her with a sad smile.

"**I'm sorry."** He whispered. She furrowed her brow,

"**What for?"** She asked.

"**Making you, and everyone else, worry about me."** He answered.

"**Don't be Aang, you did the best you could."**

"**I don't even remember what I did, or wasn't able to do…"** He breathed.

"**Don't stress about it, I'm sure you'll remember eventually. You should sleep now, you've been through a lot today."** She helped him into the bed, and she started to go back above deck,

"**Wait!…."** He called after her weakly. She looked back over her shoulder, and into his eyes.

"**Stay…please?"** He asked. She smiled, and nodded, taking the fire nation shawl off her shoulders, and hanging on a hook on the wall. She removed her shoes and she tightened the hold her hair tie had in, she knew if she slept with it down she'd look a mess in the morning. She climbed into the bed with him, and she felt him try to slide closer, she closed the distance between them, though she wasn't close enough to touch his back. She knew she'd have to try to work on his back in the morning, but right this second she just wanted to be beside him.

XOXO

Zuko stared at the doorway that led to where the huge crowd waited. Not too long ago they'd passed through the Gates of Azulon and landed. He'd taken a deep nervous breath before literally setting foot down on Fire Nation soil for the first time in over three years. Three years! He'd felt overwhelmed with nostalgia and bittersweet feelings. He was home. Now he stood in the capital city…in his father's city…about to face an enormous crowd of Fire Nation citizens which had gathered to welcome his sister and he back. He was actually being welcomed back…as a hero. After all he'd been through in the past few years, he was still having a hard time believing he'd finally reached this point. Azula had already been presented to the crowd, as proud and egotistical as ever. He heard Li and Lo, the two old ladies who served as Azula's advisers and somewhat like surrogate grandmothers to both of them, announced his return to the crowd.

He stepped forward, almost begrudgingly, until he reached the edge of the balcony so that he could peer down upon the crowd and they up at him. They cheered loudly and, to Zuko, it seemed rather obnoxiously, as if his welcome home were merely a façade, mocking him in reality. He bowed his head slightly, knowing this probably wasn't really the case but nonetheless feeling empty and cheerless when he knew he should be feeling proud and in good spirits. He'd grappled with these feelings ever since that fateful day in Ba Sing Se. He looked back up to face the crowd, forcing himself to hold himself erect and proudly. He'd done the right thing in the end, after all, even if it'd meant losing something he'd started to really care about a lot. He'd done what was best for the Fire Nation and what was best for him. He'd made the right decision, even if it'd hurt. Things couldn't have gone any other way and why shouldn't he feel proud for having persevered after three long years? He glared down at the crowd as he forcibly convinced himself, at least for the moment, that all was for the best.

XOXO

The next morning, Kali sat down a little bit out of the circle of people, close to Masami, and listened as Sokka explained what had happened and the new plan to Aang. She wondered how it would go over with him once he knew the world thought he was dead.

**"We flew back to Chameleon Bay, where we found my father, the other Water Tribe men, and the rest of the gang,"** continued Sokka, **"The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise together with Ariana so they set off together with their bears. Soon, the bay was overrun with Fire Nation ships. Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it our disguise. Since then we've been traveling west. We crossed through the Serpent's Pass a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us."  
**  
**"So what-OOF!"**

Aang's question was interrupted as he was suddenly introduced to Fireball, who took it upon himself to rub up against the startled Avatar, knocking him over with his unexpected affection.  
**  
"Um, hello?"** asked Aang, rubbing his head as he sat back up.

**"Sorry about that,"** said Kali awkwardly, somewhat embarrassed at Fireball having interrupted the conversation, **"I think he thinks he's a lot smaller than he really is. This is Fireball, Aang."  
**  
Fireball regarded him for a moment then nuzzled his face. Aang smiled as the big cat purred next to him.

**"Nice to meet you too, Fireball."**

He patted the cat's head, then Fireball turned and, after rubbing along Masami's back, flopped down into Kali's lap, nearly knocking her over as well.

**"Er, as we were about to say, Aang,"** Hakoda looked at Aang, smiling, **"We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan."  
**  
**"It's Sokka's plan,"** stated Katara in an annoyed tone. Hakoda glanced at her worriedly.

**"Yes, Sokka's plan."**

He then proceeded, along with Sokka, to lay out the plan for Aang. Kali watched Katara for a moment, wondering what the Water Tribe girl's deal with her father was. She'd seemed…irritated by his presence, unlike Sokka, who seemed constantly pleased to be together with his dad once again. Hakoda had approved of both Jet and Emi too, so it couldn't be anything to do with them that was bothering her. Kali regarded her thoughtfully, unsure as to what she could possibly be upset with him about. He seemed like a genuinely good man, an excellent leader, and a proud father. She shrugged mentally, deciding there was probably something she didn't know and that, though she was curious, it wasn't any of her business anyway. She turned her attention back to the conversation.

**"And the best part is,"** Sokka was now stating, **"the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage."  
**  
He leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially.

**"We have a secret…You!"**

**"Me?"** replied Aang, looking confused. Sokka stood and lifted his arms victoriously.  
**  
"Yep! The whole world thinks you're dead! Isn't that great?"  
**  
From the stunned look on his face, Kali had a feeling that Aang thought it was anything but great. Masami was less then pleased by Sokka's enthusiasm on the topic, and it seemed Aang was too.

"**The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news? That's terrible!"** Aang argued.

**"No, it's great. It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore. And even better, they won't expect you on The Day of Black Sun."** Sokka urged, trying to make Aang see the sunny side of his faked death.

**"No, no, no, no, no. You have no idea. This is so messed up!"** Aang snapped in return. Masami had to agree, she hadn't been overjoyed when Sokka came up with the plan to begin with, but seeing his displeasure made it worse. The group was startled out of their conversation. Another Fire Nation ship sail towards them, and seemed to want to have a word.

_**"**_**I'll handle this. The Avatar is back!" **Aang said, pulling himself up and grabbing his glider. He opened it's wings, and made towards the ship's side.

**"Aang, wait, they have no reason to suspect us for anything, don't give them a reason!"** Sokka articulated. Aang recanted, and closed his glider.

_**"**_**Everyone just stay calm. Bato and I will take care of this."** Hakoda pressed, urging everyone else below deck. Jet's posse' covered up Appa, Aang, Toph, Masami and Kali looked from the stairs, but stuck low, trying to avoid being seen. Sokka, Jet, Emi and Katara eventually joined them.

_**"**_**I hate not being able to do anything."** Aang cursed.

**"Hopefully, you won't need to."** Toph whispered back. Above them, the other ship stopped next to theirs. Fire Nation soldiers and their commander boarded the other ship, looking around as they did. Hakoda bowed lowly to the other officer.

_**"**_**Commander, why are you off course? All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation."** The Commander prodded.

**"Actually, we're from the Eastern Fleet. We have orders to deliver some cargo."** Hakoda responded.

**"Ah, Eastern Fleet. Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way."** The Commander chirped, annoyed.

**"I am sure Admiral Chan meant no disrespect, sir."** Bato chimed in.

**"I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?"** The Officer went on.

**"Next time, we'll send two hawks to be sure you get the message."** Hakoda said with a tone that reminded Masami of Sokka.

XOXO

Zuko wandered around the old familiar places, somewhat relieved to see how little the palace had changed. He felt nostalgic, memories passing by before his eyes as he walked through the corridors and past the different rooms. Servants awaited him attentively, occasionally interrupting his reminiscing to ask him if there was anything he needed. He assured them there wasn't…not anything they could give him anyway. There was one placein the palace he made a point of avoiding at all costs, feeling unsettled and somewhat frightened every time he thought about it. His father's war chamber, where the Fire Lord sat at this moment. No doubt he had been made aware of his son's return home...yet he had given no sign that he welcomed this return and Zuko felt ill at ease being in the palace because of this. Even all the memories of the times he and Azula had played or ran down the hallways or of his mother tucking him into bed or of his uncle telling him jokes while sipping tea out in the gardens couldn't keep him totally distracted from the fact that the feelings he had for the palace now differed from those he'd had in the past. Even as it brought those memories to him now, it brought to him different memories. Memories of pain, disgrace, and the banishment that was the reason why he had been so far away from this place for so long. The palace seemed cold and far too big to him now, where before it had always been a place of comfort, warmth, and trustworthiness. He had felt safe growing up here and now he felt like a stranger, unsure of how hostile the environment might be. He revisited his room and found that his things had all been unpacked for him and placed in their proper places. He looked around his room. The decorative, regal dragon carving which his father had had specially made for him when he was six, which symbolized the significance of his birthright as the heir to the throne. The family portrait which had been made before Azula had been born, just his parents with him in the middle. He had been three at the time the portrait had been done. He sat down on his bed and looked at what remained there, unpacked by the servants. Apparently they had been unsure what to do with them.

The bandana and sketchbook sat there, apparently untouched apart from having been removed from his luggage. He scowled down at them, suddenly angry. They were out of place here. Why had he kept them anyway? He shoved them under his bed fiercely, and then decided abruptly to leave the room and visit the pond where his mother and he had spent so many hours of his childhood feeding the turtle ducks. He got some bread from the kitchens, and then knelt down beside the pond. It wasn't long before the turtle ducks came over from the other side of the pond and began feasting on the bits of bread he threw to them. His sudden anger subsided as he watched them and he felt calmed and somewhat comforted. At least things hadn't changed as far as the turtle ducks were concerned. Then a shadow fell over them and the mother turtle duck, alarmed, quacked loudly and led her babies away quickly. Zuko looked up and the comfort was instantly replaced by the usual tension.

**"You seem so downcast. Has Mai gotten to you already?"** Azula commented dryly, **"Though, actually, Mai has been in a strangely good mood lately."**

**"I haven't seen Dad yet,"** Zuko frowned, **"I haven't seen him in three years…since I was banished."  
**  
**"So what?"**

**"So, I didn't capture the Avatar."**

**"Who cares?"** Azula gestured carelessly, **"The Avatar is dead."**

She gave him a searching look, squinting down at him.

**"Unless, you think he somehow miraculously survived."**

Zuko frowned and looked away. He hadn't given it too much thought really…he'd been too preoccupied by other thoughts to consider that possibility. It couldn't be possible, could it? The Avatar had been struck by lightning after all. Zuko shook the thought from his head and said aloud what he wished to convince himself of.

**"No. There's no way he could've survived."**

He frowned up at his sister, thinking. It seemed unlikely…but what if the Avatar had managed to survive? What then? He barely heard Azula assure him that if that were the case, she was sure he had nothing to worry about. She walked away and he stared down into the pond, feeling even more disconcerted than before. What if he was wrong? What if the Avatar really was alive?

XOXO

Kali scowled heavily and concentrated on the huge flaming mass headed towards her. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone so well as far as keeping their identity hidden from the other ship was concerned. Somehow, the commander of the other ship and his men had figured out they weren't really from the Fire Nation. Toph, realizing this, had launched an attack against them, sending the commander and his men plunking into the water. The enemy had recovered quickly and was now chasing them swiftly through the water, pummeling them with fireballs.

**"LOAD THE TOPH!"** Kali heard Toph cry as Pipsqueak lifted up a large stone disc and placed it down in front of her. Kali flung aside one of the incoming fireballs as Toph smashed the other one with the disc. The enemy ship wasn't far behind them at all and had several trebuchets firing at the same time now. Kali flung aside another fireball, redirecting the fire to cast the flaming gooey mess harmlessly into the sea. They'd been at this for several minutes now, being chased persistently by the other ship, and fending off all the fireballs was beginning to get taxing for all of them. She wasn't sure how much longer they could go without being hit by one. Kali glanced over her shoulder at Masami who, with assistance from Katara, was pushing a large wave out towards the other ship in an attempt to slow it down. It threw the ship off course somewhat but it was quickly realigned. Just then, Kali saw something glint and a metal projectile pierced its way through the water and into their ship. She and the rest of the crew all stumbled as the ship lurched and began taking on water. She, Katara, Jet, and Masami ran over to the edge and looked down at where they could see water was streaming in.

**"Can't you-freeze it or something?"** asked Kali, knowing the ship wouldn't last too long if it took much more water on. Masami's reply was to inhale deeply and blow down the side of the ship, pushing with her hands to freeze the water immediately around the hole, plugging it up. Kali felt slightly relieved for a second, before looking up to see a fireball about to land on them. She instinctively sliced up at it with both hands, cutting it apart with the flames she'd produced. Masami drew up some water and blocked the hot sticky mess of tar and rubble from falling on them as another fireball wrecked the pile of stone discs Toph had been using. She looked back to see Aang start out of the cabin.  
**"Aang! No!"** shouted Sokka, rushing out after him and stopping him, grabbing his staff. Masami rushed over to Aang, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking worried.

**"You're still hurt,"** she said quietly yet urgently.

**"Plus you have to stay secret,"** Sokka reminded him.

**"Aang, just let us handle this,"** asserted Katara, while Jet nodded behind her.

**"Fine,"** snarled Aang, snatching his glider away from Sokka and storming back to the cabin to stand with Emi, obviously distressed over not being able to do anything. Kali slid over to the center of the deck in the mean time and, punching out streams of fire with both hands, shot down two more incoming fireballs. The simultaneous double explosion brought the others' attention back to the fight. Despite their efforts, the ship was still right behind them and gaining some water hadn't helped them a bit.

**"How we doing?"** Kali heard Toph shout.

**"Things couldn't get much worse,"** she heard Sokka reply.

Just then a huge piercing shriek sounded as something giant emerged from the water. Kali looked up to see an enormous, brightly colored sea serpent looming over them. It screeched again and the ship rocked from the wave caused by its emergence. Kali took a few steps back to stand by the others and gaped up at the monster.

**"The Universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?"** shouted Sokka despairingly.

**"You make it too easy!"** Toph and Kali replied in unison. The group braced themselves as it started to lunge down at them.

Masami stared up at the sea serpent. Stupid sea serpent…stupid Sokka…why'd he have to say something? The serpent shrieked again as it began to lunge for them but, before it could reach them, one of the enemy's projectiles smacked into its head hard. The serpent recovered and turned to face the enemy ship and, with another angry shriek, disappeared beneath the water only to reappear coiling around the ship. Masami, Aang, and the others crowded along the rail of the ship and watched as the serpent attacked, stalling the enemy ship effectively and allowing them to escape.

**"Thank you, The Universe!"** exclaimed Sokka gratefully.

Masami felt relieved when they finally arrived at a port and docked. She'd been worried they might sink before they could get there. Even though she'd gotten much more comfortable with her water bending over time, the thought of being trapped in the open water still terrified her. She'd found some comfort at least laying below deck with Aang next to her. He'd retreated there once they'd gotten a good ways from the other ship and she'd followed him down . He didn't seem to want to talk so she'd kept silent. She'd been content to lay her head on his chest, feeling his heart beating and knowing he was alive and awake again. He was alive. She'd closed her eyes and had just listened to his breathing for a while. She opened then again though on hearing the door open.

**"Hey guys, we're going into town to find some dinner,"** Toph had said, smiling, as she and the rest of their little band of friends walked in. Masami heard Aang's stomach growl and smiled at him as she sat up and he clutched it.

**"Well, I am pretty hungry,"** he said, glancing at Masami and smiling half-heartedly, **"Maybe dinner's a good idea."**

Sokka held out a red headband.

**"Here, tie this around your head. It'll cover your arrow."**

Masami frowned and looked at Aang, who scowled heavily.

**"I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly."**

**"Aang, be practical,"** Sokka said. Masami scowled at him. She didn't like where this was going. Aang just looked away from him stubbornly.

**"Leave him alone, Sokka,"** Masami said irritably.

**"What's your problem?"** Sokka asked, looking at her quizzically.  
Masami stood, ready to chase him off. Aang turned around and stopped her though.

**"Look guys, it's not a big deal. I just don't feel like going out if I can't be myself."**

**"But it is a big deal,"** Masami looked down at him**, "to you at least. I don't blame you for not wanting to pretend to be something you're not. You should be able to be who you are."  
**  
Sokka sighed.

**"I'm not asking him to not be him, Masami. I'm asking him…to pretend he's not the Avatar right now just for the sake of the invasion plan. Having his as a surprise would be a HUGE advantage on our part and we need all the help we can get."**

**"I hate the invasion plan,"** Aang shouted suddenly, so angrily that Masami started away from him, **"I don't want you guys or anyone else risking your lives to fix my mistakes…"**

"What mistakes?" asked Toph, while Masami and everyone else watched Aang worriedly.

**"I remember…what happened now…"** Aang said, more quietly, **"I lost the battle. I lost Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom. And I almost lost my life."  
**  
He turned to Masami.

**"But you saved me. You're the only reason I'm here right now."**

Masami hugged him tightly.

**"Aang…"**

He pulled away gently.

**"You guys go ahead, alright? I'll be fine."**

Sokka and the others glanced at each other, hesitating, then retreated quietly. Masami remained, feeling uneasy.

**"Are you alright?"** she asked anxiously.

**"I've always known I would have to face the Firelord,"** he said, **"but now I know I need to do it alone."  
**  
**"Aang,"** Masami said, feeling queasy and somewhat like she might cry, **"I won't let you do that. I'm not going to let you face him alone."  
**  
She reached for his hand but he stepped away again and turned to look back at her, his face pale. He put a hand on her shoulder and kissed her softly and briefly.

**"Masami, just go…please. I just…need to be alone for a little while…I need…to figure out a way to redeem myself. I need to get my honor back."**

Masami stared at him sadly for a moment before making her way out of the room, feeling strangely frightened by his behavior. This…wasn't the same Aang she'd known before. He was different…angry and moody. What if the sweet, playful, cute, happy boy she'd fallen for never really came back?

Kali stiffened as she heard the last thing Aang said. She hadn't really meant to intrude but she'd decided to wait for Masami when she'd realized she'd stayed in the room with Aang. The last thing he'd said…about honor…and the way he'd talked in general about having to do things on his own and redeeming himself had sounded eerily like Zuko. It'd made her very uneasy. She worried he might try to do something stupid and she could tell by Masami's face when she came out of his room that she felt the same way.

**"Don't worry," **Kali said, trying to sound reassuring**, "I'm sure he'll come around…He probably just needs a little time to himself to straighten things out."  
**  
Masami looked up at her with a concerned expression and then looked away again as they started down the hallway. Kali put a hand on her shoulder as they started up the stairs to catch up to the others.

Dinner was less than enjoyable. Most of the group had a decent enough time, talking and joking, the couples occasionally kissing, much to Kali's chagrin. Masami remained quiet and meditative, as well as rather surly, particularly with respect to Sokka. Kali remained fairly quiet as well, listening to the others talk and thinking over everything that had happened since Aang had awakened. The ship had been pretty badly damaged between the damage to the deck and the big hole in the hull, which were currently being repaired thankfully. They'd been fortunate to have made it to port after taking on an attack like that. Eventually they returned to the ship, baring some food for Aang. Kali leaned against the rail outside on the deck staring up at the stormy looking clouds above them. The sky and being on a Fire Nation ship again reminded her of that terrifying night when Zuko's tiny ship had been caught in the dorm and the two of them had both wound up overboard. She shuddered at the thought. Her thoughts were interrupted though as Masami ran up the stairs. Kali was startled. Her sister searched the sky frantically for a moment and Kali guessed what had happened, a knot forming in her stomach.

**"Aang?"** she asked. Masami burst into tears and through herself into Kali's arms as everyone else gathered around them.

**"What's happened?"** asked Sokka anxiously. Masami spoke quietly, her voice muffled by her sobs.

**"Aang's gone…"**

XOXO

Zuko walked toward the chamber slowly and quietly, fear and inner turmoil threatening to send him sprinting back in the opposite direction. He felt simultaneously repulsed and drawn to the chamber, as though this moment, this decision and its outcome would determine his entire future. He wanted to run away…but he knew he couldn't. It was time. Time to face his father. He took a deep breath and drew the ceremonial curtains aside as he entered the room. His father sat opposite where he stood, in his accustomed place behind the flaring fire surrounding his throne. Zuko walked stiffly forward and fell to his knees before his father, bowing his head to the ground. He felt rigid, as though the blood in his veins had frozen, and found himself paralyzed in that position, awaiting his father's response. He could barely breathe.

**"You have been away a long time,"** his father's voice broke across his ears for the first time in a little over three years and a chill ran down Zuko's spine, **"I see the weight of your travels has changed you."  
**  
Then came the words Zuko had been waiting for and longing to hear ever since that day all those years ago.

**"You have redeemed yourself my son."**

Zuko looked up to see his father standing before him.

**"Welcome home."**

XOXO

"**What?"** Sokka and the others gasped.

"**Did I stutter? Aang's gone! And it's your fault!"** She pointed at Sokka, "**If you hadn't been so hell bent on making the world know he was dead and then rubbing it in his face he wouldn't have disappeared! Now, he's injured and flying around in a storm! Thanks a lot, Sokka!"** Masami raged. Sokka seemed stunned and rather offended all at once.

"**Me? I'm not stuck to him constantly like a kicked puppy that wants his approval for every little thing! Maybe he just got sick of being smothered!"** Sokka shot back. The group was silent, waiting for someone to say something.

"**Smothered? At least I give a shit about him, you're just using him to your advantage so your damn plan can work out and you'll get major props for doing nothing! Like you always do! Sucks to be the only non-bender in a group full of them, doesn't it Sokka? You have to do all the planning to make yourself feel important. Fact of the matter is, all you really do is screw Emi and make all of us bare witness to your sexcapades when none of us want to see or hear any of it!"** Masami stood her ground, her arms crossed, and her dark eyes glaring hard at Sokka. He squared his jaw, and looked away. Before another word could be said, Masami tore her gaze away, and started to storm off below deck, but doubled back towards the edge of the ship.

"**What're you doing?"** Emi asked quietly as Masami mounted the side of the ship as lightning flashed behind her, she looked back over her shoulder, her eyes unreadable.

"**I'm going to look for Aang."** She retorted,

"**That's suicide in this weather!"** Sokka cried.

"**What do you care?"** She snapped back, turning her head away.

"**Masami! No! Don't be stupid."** Kali moved towards her to get her off the rail.

"**You won't last a second against a current like that."** Sokka returned, moving towards her with Kali.

"**I don't care! I'm not just going to lose him, not again. I can't deal with it."** Masami answered as Kali reached to get her off the rail, causing Masami to lurch and nearly lose her balance.

"**Don't touch me!"** She was visibly shaking. Her voice cracked, and Kali took a step back,

"**We'll take Appa, you couldn't get very far like this on your own. We'll find him together okay? Just get down from there."** She asked quietly, in a voice she'd always used to get through her sister's irrationally hard head. Masami stood for a moment, and she climbed down, walking past everyone towards Appa, silently.

Kali followed her sister silently, her mind numbed even as she felt herself shaking, chills racing down her back. She'd been ready to tackle Masami and physically yank her down if she hadn't come down from that railing, wobbling about so unsteadily up there and looking like she'd gone completely mad. One thing she knew…she and the Avatar were going to have a heart-to-heart talk about her sister's condition regarding him almost dying and disappearing. The dying thing was one thing…it hadn't been his fault and it wasn't like he'd wanted to almost die. The disappearing thing, however, and almost causing her sister to take a swan-dive into a raging, stormy sea was another thing. He must not know yet just how…crazy Masami can be sometimes, Kali thought to herself, resolved that this had better be the truth for his sake, Avatar or no Avatar. She hardly knew him and yet, just from what little she'd seen of him and how attached her sister had become to him (her sister…the one who didn't like letting anyone in EVER), she wanted to believe he was better than that. Masami, she, Sokka, Toph, and Momo silently boarded Appa. Kali looked back as Sokka assured his sister and Emi that they should stay there with the freedom fighters and called to his father that they would send word to him after they found Aang and come up with a meeting place. Masami didn't give him time to kiss Emi good-bye as they were suddenly in the air, flying off into the storm. Kali watched the sky nervously. Where were they even going? She looked around the group. Toph sat slumped against the side of Appa's saddle, Momo hiding from the storm in her lap. Sokka stared sullenly into the skies, peering around them with his arms crossed and a heavy expression on his face. She could tell he'd taken what Masami'd screamed at him very hard. She knew her sister and he had issues (her sister had some people issues in general) but weren't they supposed to be friends? She looked over to where Masami sat rigidly, steering them in the midst of the storm. Masami probably hadn't meant what she said really...she was just scared and upset over Aang disappearing. Kali hoped that was the case. After such a nasty fight, she was concerned that Masami's friendship with Sokka might not mend so nicely. But right now, that was the least of everyone's concerns. She risked a glance over Appa's side at the churning sea and pulled back quickly. She searched the sky, getting a good look around them as lightning lit it up briefly. They were soon pitched back into darkness. After a few minutes of them silently lurching around in the skies, Kali'd had enough. She crawled up so that she was between Masami and the others and spoke up, finding herself forced to yell over the storm.

**"Does anyone actually know where we're going?"** She frowned and lit up their faces and Appa's back with a small beacon of flames, trying her hardest to keep the wind and rain from putting it out. Toph merely shrugged and shook her head. Kali squinted at Sokka, who just looked away. Masami said nothing and just stared ahead determinedly, as though her stubborn, unshakable resolve to find Aang would make him appear before her, whether it was logical or not. Kali's fire went out as wind drove rain into her face abruptly. She coughed as water flew up her nose and tried to think of where the Avatar could have gone. He'd said he wanted his honor back right? She furrowed her brow in the darkness and looked up at Sokka, who'd managed to grab some things from his dad before they'd taken off, among them a map and some supplies.

**"Sokka!"** she called.

He didn't seem to hear her.

**"SOKKA!"**

She saw Sokka's outline jolt up to face her and lit up Appa's back again.

**"WHICH WAY IS THE FIRE NATION?"**

"THAT WAY!" Sokka gestured vaguely to the right and to the opposite direction in which they'd been headed.

**"Maybe he went there!"**

"How do you know?"

Kali glanced back at Masami, hoping to catch her attention with what she said next.  
**  
"DIDN'T AANG SAY HE WANTED HIS HONOR BACK?"  
**  
Masami glanced back at her with a face simultaneously ashen and stoney and nodded curtly.

**"Well then wouldn't he go to the Fire Nation? That's where the Firelord is and that's the only place he could go to face him!"** Again, after some consideration, a curt nod.

**"Sokka, which way'd you say it was to the Fire Nation again?"** yelled Kali over a loud boom of thunder.

Sokka gestured the direction again. Masami swung Appa around so fast that Appa moaned loudly and the three sitting in the back were jolted to one side as they whipped back to head towards the direction they'd come. Kali held on tightly as the bison surged forward recklessly through the storm and a thought passed through her head fleetingly that she wished there was a restriction of some kind on who could drive Appa.

XOXO

"**I am proud of you, Prince Zuko."**

Zuko felt as if he'd been waiting to hear those words from his father his entire life. Yet somehow, he didn't get nearly as much pleasure out of hearing them now as he'd expected.  
**  
"I am proud because your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because, when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing, and captured the traitor."**

Guilt shot though Zuko as he thought of Uncle, now imprisoned in one of the Fire Nation's most top security prisons. Because of him…

**" And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment. Together with Azula, you slayed the Avatar."**

Zuko's eyebrows shot up at the last part. What did his father mean? It had been Azula who'd killed the Avatar. He'd had no part in it.

**"What did you hear?"** asked Zuko uneasily.

**"Azula told me everything. She told me of how the two of you worked together and struck a fatal blow simultaneously to the Avatar. She said she was amazed and impressed with your power and ferocity at the moment of truth."**

XOXO

The sky was bright with lightning, making the Avatar jump at memories it brought up. He sort of regretted his decision of going off like this. He knew it was selfish, he knew they'd lay down their lives for him, and he ran. He found out that was one thing he was best at; running when the world needed him most.

He'd already seen a Fire Nation blockade and there was no way he could get through something like that in the air. He dove beneath the waves, and before long, exhaustion took him. He surfaced, and gripped wood floating near him. He regretted leaving even more now, he couldn't do this. He'd failed, and he knew it.

"**I'm not gonna make it. I failed."** He muttered to himself, setting his head on the plank, accepting his seemingly set fate. As another flash lit the sky, Aang looked up as someone stood before him.

_**"**_**Roku?"** He asked, perplexed

**"You haven't failed, Aang."** Roku told him.

**"But everyone thinks I am dead again. They think I've abandoned them, and I'm losing this war. I'm letting the whole world down."** Aang cried.

**"If anyone is to blame for the state of the world, it is me. I should've seen this war coming, and prevented it. You inherited my problems and my mistakes. But I also believe you are destined to redeem me, and save the world."** Roku answered solemnly.

**"I don't know."** Aang responded sadly, as a moonbeam was cast his way.

_**"**_**You already saved the world."** Yue's voice came from the moon. Aang looked up, and there she was in the sky.

_**"**_**And you'll save the world again. But you can't give up."** Yue continued. Aang's expression changed, to one more like he'd worn before his accident.

_**"**_**You're right. I won't give up."** He decided, climbing onto the wood to which he held, and he began to propel himself using his practiced waterbending skills. As he rode the waves, Yue's arms rose, and gave him more strength to propel himself, for a time, until he reached a rocky shore, where he collapsed from fatigue.

Back on Appa, the group spotted his from lying on the rocky shores of a small island. Masami's heart sank; she didn't know what to think. Was he alive, was he dead? She had to find out. As they landed Appa, she tore from the group and lifted his form, and he moaned lightly. She cradled him to her chest, and he opened his eyes, and smiled lightly,

"**I'm sorry Masami."** He sounded exhausted. She shook her head,

"**Don't be, just don't do that EVER again."** She emphasized ever more then other words, and she laughed through her tears lightly as he nodded, and smiled, falling back to her shoulder. Kali helped her get him back to Appa, and they flew back towards the ship.

As they decided, returning to the ship wasn't a good idea; so they moved towards a cave they'd spotted a little ways off. Masami took Aang to the back of the cave to lay down and get some sleep. Everyone departed for bed, except Sokka. He stood at the mouth of the cave, leaning over a wall, looking out at the foamy sea. He hadn't spoken to anyone since they climbed off Appa. He stood alone, and he looked over his shoulder lightly as he heard someone approaching behind him. He didn't expect to see anyone, but the anyone he expected not to see was noneotherthan Masami.

"**You want to pick up where we left off before you went all crazy and tried to hop off the boat?"** He said coldly.

"**When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong Sokka."** She said quietly.

"**Really? When did this start happening?"** He said sarcastically.

"**I'm sorry Sokka."** She said quietly. He looked back over his shoulder, and he could see her head was low, bowed.

"**It's fine."** He answered.

"**No, it's not."** She said, her voice cracking. He looked again, mildly concerned for how she was acting. It wasn't like her.

"**You don't sound like yourself."** He tossed out, watching her still.

"**I hurt a friend who didn't deserve it, I feel pretty bad."** She admitted, moving closer, leaning on a sidewall of the cave mouth next to him, and she continued.

"**I thought he was dead for real this time. I was so scared. I shouldn't have lashed out and have no excuse for it…but that's all I can really say there I guess, so I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me. You aren't useless, you're plan guy, and we'd be no where with out you."** She admitted, tears falling from her eyes again. He reached out and touched her shoulder,

"**It means a lot to me that you will admit that. I feel useless more often then not compared to you guys, so it hurt me when you said that. A lot. But, I forgive you. I do care about Aang, you know, not in the same regard you do, that'd be weird, but I do."** He smiled lightly as she laughed and looked at him. Her eyes were bloodshot, and he did feel bad that she'd been so stressed. He could tell she worried more then she should have recently, stress had also taken some of her weight recently. He didn't know what made him decide to do it, but he reached out and put his arms around her, pulling her close.

"**He's okay now Masami, he has us, and we won't lose him again."** He whispered in her ear, rubbing her back. She stiffened for a moment, but she relaxed and hugged him back.

"**I was so scared Sokka."** She cried, and he shushed her,

"**It's okay now, you don't have to worry anymore."** He felt himself want to start to cry. This was the first time she'd ever really reached out to anyone besides Aang or her sister, and in all honestly, he felt glad that he was one of the people she bothered to let in, even if the circumstances that led to this moment were very unpleasant.

Kali glanced over at the sleeping Avatar. Her sister had hastened to get him down to rest for the night and he was obviously soundly asleep now. After a journey like that, it was no wonder he was exhausted. It'd been a long enough trip just riding on Appa. He hadn't told them much about how it'd gone for him but it obviously hadn't gone particularly well as he'd been unconscious when they first found him. Toph'd stumbled upon his glider, literally, on their way back to Appa. It had washed up on the shore and was badly damaged. They'd kept it for him all the same, Toph placing it next to him after he'd gone to sleep. Masami had gone back outside of the cave not too long after she'd gotten Aang settled in and Kali had caught a glimpse later of Sokka and her hugging. It was good to see they seemed to have made up. Kali supposed they were closer friends than she'd thought, since Masami wasn't usually one for hugging people that much. It was nice to see she'd started opening up to more people during their time apart and not just Aang.

A little while later, Kali rose quietly. She'd been trying to get to sleep for something like an hour now and, finding herself wide awake still, decided to go outside for a bit. The island they were on appeared to be deserted. It was a volcanic island and the volcano was obviously still quite active, which made her somewhat uncomfortable on it. It also reminded her that, for the first time ever in her entire life as a firebender, she was on Fire Nation soil. She was in the Fire Nation. It seemed strange to her that she should feel such…excitement at that prospect. She'd never really given it much thought in the past but now that she was here…she really did feel kind of excited. A bit worried too but that was nothing new really. She wondered what it would be like, once they actually reached the mainland of the Fire Nation and the towns. She sat out by the water for a long time, thinking about what it would be like encountering her mother's homeland for the first time…what it would be like living in a society where firebending was actually…normal and accepted. She thought about the capital city. About the Firelord. About Zuko.

XOXO

Zuko marched into his sister's room, opening the door loudly.

**"Why did you do it?"** he demanded.

Azula was in her bed, apparently sleeping. She opened one eye lazily.

**"You're going to have to be a little more specific."**

"Why did you tell Father we killed the Avatar together?"  
**  
"Can't this wait til morning?"  
**  
**"It can't,"** he replied icily. What did she have to gain by this?  
Azula sighed and sat up.

**"Fine. You seemed so worried about how Father would treat you because you hadn't captured the Avatar. I figured, if I gave you some of the credit, you'd have nothing to worry about."**

**"But why?"**

She stood and walked casually toward him, gesturing as she did so.

**"Call it a generous gesture. I wanted to thank you for your help and I was happy to share the glory."**

Zuko scowled.

**"You're lying,"** he said bluntly.

**"If you say so,"** she replied, yawning.

**"You have another motive for doing this. I just haven't figured out what it is yet."**

**"Please, Zuko,"** she said, standing beside him, "**What ulterior motive could I have? What could I possibly gain by letting you share in the glory for defeating the Avatar? Unless somehow the Avatar was actually alive…"  
**  
**"That can't be possible,"** Zuko replied, cutting her off. The more she mentioned it, the more worried he became.

**"No, it certainly shouldn't be,"** snapped Azula abruptly, **"But if it is, then I'm not taking the fall for it. Should the Avatar somehow miraculously return, I'll simply blame it on you. After all, it could be that your 'fatal blow' that you delivered to him wasn't fatal enough. Perhaps you even actually got in my way as I was attacking him and I was just trying to do my brother a favor by not mentioning that little detail."**

She sauntered back to her bed, smirking as she said the last line, and lay back down.

**"Sleep well, Zuzu,"** she cooed quietly as she closed her eyes again. Zuko turned and stormed off, all the tension and fear he'd felt earlier just before entering his father's throne room returning instantly. He felt as though he couldn't breath. The Avatar couldn't be alive. No one survived being struck head on by a bolt of lightning like that. No one. He tried to go to sleep but his fears and these thoughts refused to leave him alone. Finally, he went outside and stared up at the sky. Eventually he became convinced of it. The Avatar must be alive. And if he really was…something had to be done.

XOXO

**A/N:** And there you have it! Zuko's full of regret, Masami's working on her people skills and Kali's stuck in the middle of a circle of couples and angst! Wooo! Well, until next time, Stay Flamin!


	21. Fire, Wang Fire

The group knew they couldn't stay where they were for long, they had to move on. They awoke early, and Kali helped Masami get Aang onto Appa, but they couldn't keep moving around, Appa would too easily be identified. So, as they flew, Aang stood (much to Masami's chagrin) and with Masami they moved the water in a cloud to cover the flying bison.

After a while of flying, Aang pointed down below them,

**"I think I see a cave below."** He smiled, and as they landed, he made the cloud dispurse.

**"Shhush... keep quiet!"** Sokka snapped as they went down, and then as he hopped off the bison he began to investigate further. **"Great job with the cloud camo, but next time, let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud who knows how to keep its mouth shut." **

******"Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in."** Toph returned sarcastically.

**"Hey! We're in **_**enemy**_** territory. Those are **_**enemy**_** birds."** Sokka admonished, pointing at a group of birds sitting behind him. As he did, one hopped down and landed on his head, squawking. The group began to move off into the cave and Sokka leapt above them, swatting at something only he could see. Masami watched him, and just stepped around Sokka, who then dashed ahead of her and into the cave.

_**"**_**Well, this is it. This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave...after cave...after cave..."** Sokka supposed with much displeasure.

_**"**_**Sokka, we don't need to become cave people. What we need is some new clothes."** Kali tossed in sensibly.

**"Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out. If we get Fire Nation disguises, we'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."** Aang added with a smile. Masami nodded,

**"Plus...they have **_**real**_** food out there. Does anyone wanna sit in the dirt and eat cave-hoppers?"** Toph also said, punching the wall, and a few bugs hopped off the wall, making Momo jump for them and shove them in his mouth. Masami's mouth turned downwards in a rather grossed out expression.

_**"**_**Looks like we got out voted, sport."** Sokka said to Momo. _**"**_** Let's get some new clothes."** Sokka sighed.

Aang burnt his glider before they left the cave. Kali and everyone else watched him silently as he did so. It had been damaged badly anyway but it was obvious that it had been hard for Aang to let it go. He'd kept it with him right up until they'd realized they needed disguises and had only then decided that it needed to be destroyed. Despite its damage, it was still easy to tell that it was an airbender's glider and it would have been hard to keep hidden from prying eyes. As they walked over towards a nearby village searching for a good place to get clothes, Kali glanced back to see Masami trying to comfort him. The sobering experience was soon pushed to the backs of everyone's minds as they reached a place on the outskirts that obviously did laundry for a variety of people. They scanned the lines and Kali noted that the laundry man seemed to be asleep, which was good. Still...she didn't like this. Aang seemed to have doubts as well.

**"I don't know...these clothes belong to somebody."**

**"Dibs on that little top and skirt!"** called Masami, suddenly perking up and running out towards a line.

**"But if it's essential to our survival, then I call the suit!"** shouted Aang cheerfully, joining her.

Kali watched as Masami rushed over, yanking down a pair of tiny garments. She wasn't really one to admit it, but there was definitely a fashion-loving streak in her. She had a weakness for cute, little clothes. Plus, she might still have been trying to lighten Aang's mood a little. Kali noted that Aang seemed to share Masami's enthusiasm for clothes. Kali surveyed the clothes again as Sokka and Toph joined them among the lines, Toph getting assistance from the others in finding the right clothes to fit her. None of the clothes (for women anyway) were particularly to her liking and she frowned. They were all...more Masami's style. Small...and exposing...

Masami bounced back over to where Kali still crouched behind the rock.

**"C'mon it's your turn! And no pants."**

**"I don't see anything I like,"** Kali frowned.

Masami flashed her a big grin.

**"Well then, I'll just pick something out for you!"**

**"No no,"** Kali stood and held up her hands, **"I'll go pick something myself."  
**  
Unfortunately, Masami had already run off and, returning with a pile of varied clothes in her hands, ushered Kali along back towards their hideout. Kali groaned lightly. Masami. Three main switches to her. Really down. Neutralish. Really up. Seemed she was really up today, which was good...but when Masami was in a really good mood, she could become somewhat exhausting. Masami changed into her outfit quickly, looking very cute and attractive in her new short, shiny red skirt (even shorter than her normal one) and matching sleeveless top. Her pretty brown hair hung down around her neck, resting lightly on her shoulders. Kali took her time sorting through the pile Masami had found her. They were all about the same style-wise, but Kali, being tall for a girl, was having trouble finding a size that fit her. Not only that, but Masami's tastes tended towards skirts that were short to begin with. Having put on one particularly short skirt and small top, Kali felt as if she were hardly wearing anything at all.

**"Hey you beauty queens done yet?"** called Sokka, as he and Aang strolled around the corner to where the girls were changing.

Aang's face lit up immediately upon seeing Masami. Kali glanced over to see Masami blushing brightly.

**"I...I...wow..."** stuttered Aang, **"I...ummm...you..I...you look...beautiful."**

**"Thanks Aang,"** said Masami shyly, still blushing. Sokka rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out, then looked at Kali.

**"Geez, you look like you're hardly wearing anything!"**

It was Kali's turn to blush, only it was an angry blush. She held her other clothes in front of her hastily.

**"I wasn't done picking out an outfit, Sokka, "** she said icily, **"And I can't help it that I'm too tall for all of these clothes."  
**  
Sokka frowned and walked up closer to her.  
**  
"Come to think of it, you are pretty tall, aren't you?...especially compared to Masami,"** he said, looking at them thoughtfully.

Masami scowled.

**"Yeah well, she's taller than you too, Sokka."**

"What? No she's not!"

Sokka moved to stand directly in front of her and made hand motions as if to compare their heights. Masami was right. Kali stood taller than Sokka by a good couple of inches. Sokka stood on his tip toes and attempted to stretch himself to become taller than her before being shoved away by Toph. It wasn't until several minutes later, after Kali had snuck back to the laundry place to return the clothes and pick out her own outfit, that they were all dressed and ready. Kali was relieved to find a nice, crimson skirt that at least came down to a little around her knees and so was not quite as revealing. Aang had covered up his arrow with a headband and Toph had removed the bottoms of her shoes, thus allowing her to see and still look like a normal Fire Nation citizen. They went out and bought new jewelry and ties for their hair. Kali had switched the side to which her bangs hung, hiding her blue eye and allowing her golden one to show. It felt somewhat strange. She pulled back part of her hair in a ponytail and left the rest to hang down freely past her shoulders and down her back for a change. Masami, meanwhile, put on a new necklace, reluctantly hiding away the necklace Aang had made her previously. Once they were done putting the final touches on their disguises, they headed out to explore the town. Aang led the way.

**"I used to visit my friend Kuzon here a hundred years ago. So everyone just follow my lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the Fire Nation - "Stay flamin"!"**

Sokka and Kali both rolled their eyes as they followed him down the road. Somehow, Kali thought, it seems likely that's changed since a hundred years ago. Aang had soon managed to confuse numerous Fire Nation people with his old-school greetings, calling them 'Hotman.' After a little while, Sokka found them a restaurant.

**"Oh, we're going to a meat place?"** asked Aang, frowning.

**"Come on, Aang. Everyone here eats meat...even the meat! "** smiled Sokka, indicating a nearby cow hippo eating some fish.

**"You guys go ahead,"** Aang replied, **"I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage."**

When Masami hesitated, Aang urged her on.

**"Masami, I'll just wait out here. It's fine."**

They were only gone to get the food for a matter of minutes, but in that short time span, Aang managed to disappear. Masami, of course, panicked immediately.

Aang looked around anxiously. He'd been caught by some Fire Nation guards, who'd mistaken him for a student 'playing hooky' and was now being dragged up toward an imposing building with an even more imposing statue in front of it. Aang wondered at the statue as they passed by, curious as to who the man was. Soon, he found himself in the school being shoved into a classroom. He blinked uneasily as a room full of kids his own age and a stern-looking woman he guessed to be their teacher peered at him curiously.

**"Oh! Is this a new mind ready for molding?"** asked the teacher.

Aang decided to make the best of the situation and go along with his assumed identity of a new student at the school.

**"That's right. Let the molding begin,"** he said cheerfully, knocking on his head.

**"Wait a minute,"** said the teacher, gasping abruptly, **"You're not from the Fire Nation!"**

Aang watched her warily as she advanced on him, taken aback by how quickly she'd realized he was out of place.

**"Clearly, you're from the colonies,"** she said, looking him over critically.

**"Yeah, the colonies. Of course. The Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom,"** said Aang, feeling relieved.

**"Your etiquette is terrible,"** said the teacher irritably, **"In the homeland, we bow to our elders. Like so."  
**  
She demonstrated the proper bow for him. He mumbled an apology and did his best to imitate the bow but found that he'd done it wrong. A pretty girl sitting near him quickly demonstrated the technique for him again and he smiled thankfully at her and corrected himself.

**"And we don't wear head coverings indoors,"** said the teacher, tapping his head disapprovingly.

**"Um, I have a scar. It's really embarrassing."**

**"Very well. What is your name? Or should we just call you,'"Mannerless Colony Slob'?"**

Aang chuckled at that.

**"Just 'Slob' is fine. Or uh, Kuzon."**

Saying this, he turned to look that class over again. They seemed friendly enough, he thought, as he took the seat the teacher, whom he learned was named Ms. Kwan, assigned him. Maybe this could actually be fun…and maybe he could even learn some good things about the Fire Nation.

He soon had both of his hopes for school fulfilled. He learned about the Fire Nation's history in his first class, focusing mainly on the Fire Nation's earliest efforts at colonizing in the Earth Nation. In his second class (art class), he learned that the imposing statue out front was none other than the Fire Lord himself. He was given a picture of Fire Lord Ozai and then required to make a picture of the Fire Lord using noodles. He had a good time with it and even managed to garner a few compliments from his fellow classmates. The kid next to him, who introduced himself as Shoji, told him it was the best noodle art he'd ever seen. Shoji was a relatively amiable kid who informed Aang that he too was from the Earth Kingdom colonies. Soon Aang had made a new friend and, during the remainder of the class, Shoji introduced him around to a few more kids.. Once art class had ended, they went back to Ms. Kwan for a final test of some sort which reviewed all the things they were supposed to have learned that day, then received assignments for the night and were let out for the rest of the day. Aang exited the school feeling happy and wondering why most people he'd heard mention school made it sound so terrible.

XOXO

Zuko hadn't been able to sleep well for a long time now. Ever since he'd turned his back on Uncle and Kali, he'd struggled with nightmares and general restlessness. Tonight was no exception. Now that he had it in his mind that the Avatar might still be alive, things seemed even worse. After tossing and turning around in his bed for what seemed like hours, he'd suddenly gotten it into his head. He had to visit Uncle. Even if it meant having a painful and even risky reunion with someone now considered an outright traitor by the Fire Nation, Uncle was the only one he could turn to. Uncle always knew what to do and he'd always been there with his wisdom and advice when Zuko had needed him. After a long trip sneaking out through the capital city and hiking up to where one of the nation's highest security prisons stood, Zuko found himself staring up at the imposing structure, wondering just where his uncle was kept and if he could really bring himself to face him. A guard shouted at him and Zuko turned away, retreating into the darkness, still unsure whether or not he could really do this.

XOXO

Kali sunk down against the cave wall, feeling mentally tired. With Masami in the lead, she and the others had torn the town and its immediate surroundings apart looking for Aang, asking what felt like every other person if they'd seen a young kid wearing a headband and a uniform of sorts. Eventually someone had told them it sounded like they were describing a school kid and pointed out a large school on a hill overlooking the town to them. Sokka and Toph had insisted it was ridiculous to think Aang would go there. Why would he go to a school? And by this point, Kali thought they'd managed to attract enough unwanted attention to themselves. Noting that Masami still looked thoroughly determined to find him as soon as possible, she suggested that maybe they should check again to see if he'd returned to the cave before they went barging up into a Fire Nation school. Unfortunately he was not yet there. Kali sighed and reluctantly joined Sokka in trying to persuade Masami to let them all take a short break before they went back to their search. They'd been searching for several hours straight now and all of them looked rather tired, especially since they hadn't exactly gotten much rest during the past couple of days. Masami had just proclaimed that they could just sit there and do nothing if they wanted but she was going back out to find Aang when he suddenly reappeared.

XOXO

Shoving the guard who'd yelled at him earlier against the wall and uttering a low threat to tell no one of this visit, Zuko felt he was now thoroughly resolved and could handle anything Uncle had to throw at him. He'd found out earlier which cell Uncle was being kept in and now, feeling the guard had been properly frightened and would do as he ordered, he entered the cell quietly and removed his hood. Uncle sat, silent and composed despite his filthy outfit and dismal surroundings, a few rays of light shining down upon him from an unknown source.

**"Uncle," **Zuko nearly whispered, feeling his resolve suddenly begin to fail him as he looked upon his fallen mentor, **"It's me."**

His uncertainty increased as his uncle slowly and deliberately turned away from him, facing the wall.

**"You brought this on yourself, you know,"** he said, trying to reason, **"We could have returned together. You could have been a hero!"  
**  
When Uncle didn't respond, his uncertainty began to turn quickly to resentment and Zuko became defensive.

**"You have no right to judge me Uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me,"** he said impulsively, trying to get a response of some kind. Still nothing.  
**  
"You're not gonna say anything?"**

His resentment and frustration boiled over into an incredulous anger.  
**  
"Fuck it!"**

Kicking up a nearby stool, he punched it viciously, smashing it against the wall with the impact of his fire-bending.

**"YOU'RE A CRAZY OLD MAN! YOU'RE CRAZY! And if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!"**

He stormed off, slamming the door behind him as hard as he could. He spent the rest of the night fuming over Uncle's abstinence and practicing his bending for the first time since before Ba Sing Se, lunging out fiercely at imagined opponents and obstacles in the same corner of the palace grounds where he'd practiced as a child.

XOXO

"**Aang!"** Masami nearly squealed and hugged him tightly as he walked in, looking singed yet surprisingly happy.  
**  
"Where have you been?"** asked Sokka, **"We were worried!"**

Aang grinned over Masami's shoulder at him as he hugged her back.

**"I got invited to play with some kids after school."**

**"AFTER WHAAT?"** asked Sokka, standing up abruptly, obviously shocked.

**"Are you okay?"** interrupted Masami, looking him over, obviously concerned by his singed clothes.

**" I'm great, actually. I enrolled in a Fire Nation school and I'm going back tomorrow,"** said Aang, seemingly oblivious to how unsettled the rest of the group looked.

**"Enrolled in WHAAT?"** Sokka flopped back down heavily onto the cave floor, the stunned expression still pasted across his face.

Soon they were all gathered around a small campfire Kali'd built with Aang telling them the story of how he'd been grabbed and enrolled in a school, of the new friends he'd made, the nice girl he'd met who had a rather cranky 'popular kid' for a boyfriend, and the game of 'Hide and Explode'. He told them about why he wanted to go back to the school. All of the others agreed it still sounded like a bad idea, though they found themselves forced to admit that the noodle picture he'd made was definitely, as Sokka put it, "impressive." After mentioning something about learning of a secret river under the Fire Nation's palace the next day, however, Sokka was swayed enough to suggest that perhaps they could spare a few days. Masami remained unconvinced, however, that it was worth the risk. Kali and Toph seemed to think it'd be alright though, so long as Aang did his best to keep a low profile in the school. Finding herself outvoted, Masami reluctantly watched the next day as Aang headed off cheerfully to school.

Unfortunately, things did not go too well at school for Aang that day. Kali and the others looked up as he returned, surprised by his somber expression. Masami hastened to ask him what was wrong, looking worried.

**"I have to go back to school for a meeting with the headmaster…"** Aang started.

**"Why?"** asked Sokka.

**"What'd you do?"** followed up Toph.

**"Well I…sort of got into a fight after school-not one I started!"** he inserted quickly, holding up his hands defensively as the group gave him weird looks.

Sokka shrugged.

**"Well that doesn't sound so bad, Aang. Just keep cool and say whatever he wants you to say and you should be fine."**

**"Yeah but there's a problem,"** Aang replied, scratching the back of his head uneasily, **"I have to have my parents comes with me."**

**"PARENTS?"** Sokka exclaimed, looking dismayed. The others looked startled as well.

**"Where are we going to find two people to be your parents?"** asked Toph.

**"Well I could be his mom,"** suggested Masami smirking slightly.

**"Right,"** responded Sokka, **"Because you look so much older than him. And I think the headmaster might get suspicious when Aang seems a little too happy about giving his mother a kiss."  
**  
**"What do you suggest then, Sokka?"** asked Masami, frowning irritably.

**"Well…hmmm…I guess I'll have to be his father, since I'm the only man around here…"**

Half of the group rolled their eyes.

**"…and…let's see, we've already said Masami probably shouldn't be the mother in this case…Toph…I can't really see you as the motherly type either…"**

**"Not unless you're looking for the blind, ass-kicking kind."**

"So I guess that makes you the mom, Kali."

**"Me?"**

"Yeah. Actually that'd work well. You're taller than Aang and you even have a bit of that classic Fire Nation look going for you. It'll totally work."

"Right…because we really look like we could be Aang's parents."

**"Well…we'll fix that."**

Several minutes later, Sokka had managed to glue on a fake beard and mustache and adjusted his clothes a little to make him look older. Kali had retrieved a more loosely fitting shirt and had done up her hair in a style which made her look older and more mature. Masami had suggested they put the two lemurs in her shirt to make her look pregnant but in the end Kali had discarded this idea due to the fact that they moved way too much. They put a bundle of clothes in her shirt instead and soon the contrived family was sitting in the headmaster's office. Kali shifted nervously, certain this farce couldn't possibly hold up. They looked ridiculous. The headmaster addressed them.

**"Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs..?"**

**"Fire,"** inserted Sokka bolding, **"Wang Fire."**

Kali restrained herself from palming herself in the face. Fire?

**"This is my wife, Sapphire."**

**"Sapphire Fire,"** she said, wondering why they hadn't managed to plan this out better earlier, **"It's a pleasure to meet you."**

**"Mr. and Mrs.. Fire,"** the headmaster said, giving them a dubious look**, "your son has been enrolled here for two days, and he's already causing problems. He's argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil."  
**  
Kali put a hand on Aang's shoulder, deciding to act like a classic protective mother.

**"Oh sir, that doesn't sound like our Kuzon at all. Could there have been some mistake?"**

**"I'm afraid not, ma'am,"** said the headmaster, **"And I must forewarn you. If he acts up one more time, I'll have him sent to reform school."**

He leaned forward a bit, looking somewhat menacing**. "By which I mean the coal mines…are we clear?"  
**  
**"Don't you worry, Mr. Headmaster,"** replied Sokka confidently, **"I'll straighten this boy out somethin' fierce."**

He turned to Aang.

**"YOUNG MAN, AS SOON AS WE GET HOME, YOU'RE GONNA GET THE PUNISHMENT OF A LIFETIME!"**

Aang backed away towards Kali, who, initially surprised, quickly masked the surprise by holding Aang closer.  
**  
"Honey! Calm down!"** she hissed at Sokka.

**"That's what I like to hear,"** said the headmaster, sounding pleased, as they stood and walked out the door, Kali struggling to hold up her fake belly and keep a protective hand on Aang. It was a huge relief to her once they finally got back to the cave and she could go back to looking normal.

**"That settles it,"** shouted Sokka, still playing his role of father and stroking his fake beard, **"NO MORE SCHOOL FOR YOU, YOUNG MAN!"**

**"I'm not ready to leave,"** admonished Aang, frowning, "**I'm having fun for once, just being a normal kid. You don't know what it's like, Sokka. You get to be normal all the time."  
**  
Toph laughed mockingly and Masami and Kali smirked. Sokka frowned.

**"Listen, guys, those kids at school are the future of the Fire Nation. If we wanna change this place for the better, we need to show them a little taste of freedom,"** continued Aang.

**"What could you possibly do for a country of depraved little fire monsters?"** asked Sokka then added toward Kali, **"Err, no offense."**

**"None taken, I guess,"** replied Kali, raising an eyebrow.

**"I'm gonna throw them…a secret dance party!"** replied Aang  
happily, doing an enthusiastic little tap dance. The others stared at him in surprise then Sokka resumed his stern father act.

**"Go to your room!"**

Masami frowned as she helped the others set up the cave, freezing little chunks of ice to put in the drinks. Aang had insisted they serve refreshments so she'd gone out earlier with Kali and bought a ton of some manner of fruity punch type stuff. She'd never been much for parties…or crowds…or kids around her age, for that matter, so, needless to say, she wasn't too happy about the upcoming dance party. But Aang seemed to really want to do it so she kept her mouth shut and did what she could to help out. The only possibly good thing about this, which she and Kali had discussed earlier when it'd just been them out shopping, was that she'd probably get to dance with Aang again. And if it was as much fun as it had been last time, she figured dealing with the crowd was probably worth it. Aang had demonstrated a bunch of the classic Fire Nation dances he knew to them earlier and they'd seemed pretty neat, though she wasn't too sure they were really her style. Kali, to her surprise, had recognized some of them and had even helped Masami practice for one of them earlier. She'd gotten to practice it with Aang for a little while with Kali supervising and, to her surprise, she'd done pretty good at it actually. Aang had helped her a lot with some of the flipping using his airbending but other than that, she felt like she'd gotten the hang of it pretty fast. She still wasn't so sure about having to do it in front of all those school kids though. She looked up suddenly, jolted from her thoughts as Toph warned everyone the kids were coming. Quickly, they all stopped their bending and took their places around the dance floor and by the rock holding the beverages. Aang urged Appa into the back of the cave then hurried forward looking excited. Soon, the cave was filled with kids and a band had begun to play lively music. Masami was already annoyed, especially since Aang was too busy trying to get all the Fire Nation pricks to dance to spend time with her.

**"Listen guys,"** he said, **"dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you."  
**  
**"Maybe it was different in the colonies, Kuzon,"** said one kid, coming forward a little, **"But we don't do that here."**  
**  
"Sure you do,"** Aang chirped, **"You have for generations. It just so happens that I know several classic fire nation dances."  
**  
**"Imagine that. What were the odds?"** Masami heard Kali mutter under her breath.

**"A hundred years ago, this was known as 'the Phoenix flight,'"** continued Aang, demonstrating a somewhat goofy looking dance.

**"And this was the 'Camelephant strut,'"** he continued, hopping and somersaulting forward. Masami scowled heavily and sipped her drink angrily as he smiled into the faces of two stupid, giggling girls, then hopped back, landing perfectly. From the other side of Kali, Masami heard Toph laugh.

**"Who knew Twinkletoes could dance?"**

Masami looked back at Aang. She'd known.

XOXO

Zuko had lain in bed for a while, his mind racing, before finally getting up and heading up to the prison again. He still couldn't figure out how it was Azula had figured out he'd gone to visit Uncle the previous night. Nor was he sure what she wanted. He'd been out on a picnic with Mai when she'd confronted him. He'd spent much of the picnic feeling…unsatisfied, even though he enjoyed Mai's company. As much as he liked going out with Mai, every time they did something just the two of them, all of his problems seemed to immediately fill his head. The need to resolve whether the Avatar was dead or not once and for all, the uneasiness he felt about Uncle's predicament, and Kali. She had an especially nasty tendency of ruining any moments he had with Mai. He was starting to find himself dreading their kisses since every time they kissed, Kali appeared in his head. He'd tried pushing her memory away but it just wouldn't stay gone. Especially not knowing her sketchbook and bandana were sitting hidden away under his bed. He just…wasn't sure what to do with them now that he'd bothered to keep them. He'd planned to throw them away multiple times or burn them but every time he'd come close, he'd hadn't been able to go through with it…

That wasn't the biggest problem right now though, he reminded himself, as he hiked his way up towards the prison. Azula had somehow figured out he was visiting Uncle, which wasn't good, but she hadn't told him what she wanted yet. She'd acted as if she was just doing it for his own good but he knew that couldn't really be the case. Besides, shouldn't she be worried about whether or not the Avatar might reappear now? She may have made it possible for herself to lay most of the blame on him but she hadn't completely omitted herself from the potential humiliation and shame which awaited them if the Avatar were discovered alive. Had she just done that to drive him crazy? To make him think the Avatar was alive when really he should be confident in their victory? Well, Zuko thought grimly, as he walked down the hallway, she'd succeeded if that was her goal.

He knelt down in front of the bars of his uncle's cell and pushed the package towards his uncle, who was once again silent and facing the wall.

**"I brought you some komodo-chicken. I know you don't care for it, but I figure it beats prison food."**

Zuko sighed.

**"I admit it. I have everything I always wanted, but it's not at all how I thought it would be. The truth is…I need your advice."**

Zuko bowed his head, feelings of shame and desperation welling up inside him.

**"I think the Avatar is still alive. I know he's out there. I'm losing my mind…"**

He was clenching the bars now and could feel his face contort with desperation as he nearly shouted the next words.

**"Please, Uncle, I'm so confused! I need your help."**

He was pleading now. Zuko felt disgusted…with himself, with his still silent, unmoved uncle, with everything! Uncle had always tried to help. Why was it that now, when Zuko needed him the most, he wasn't doing anything? He wouldn't even talk to him!

**"FORGET IT!"** shouted Zuko, his rage exploding out of him again**, "I'll solve this myself! Waste away in here for all I care!"  
**  
He started to stomp out of the room, but stopped just at the door, torn. He hadn't really meant that…but, no, he couldn't turn back again. He glanced back then continued back out of the door. He couldn't take it back now…but why'd he said it? And why was it that now that he'd gotten everything he'd always wanted, he was so miserable? Why was he so ANGRY?

XOXO

Masami drank her fourth glass of punch, wishing it had the effects on her that cactus juice'd had on Sokka, Emi, and Momo in the desert. Some of the 'depraved little fire monsters' as Sokka'd called them earlier had finally started dancing now but Aang was still too busy trying to get more to dance to dance with her. She was already wishing for this night to hurry up and be over. And then things got worse.

**"And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se,"** she heard Aang say. She looked up to see him dancing with some homely little Fire Nation slut with stupid bangs and clenched her fists.

**"Wow, they look pretty good together,"** she heard Sokka comment dryly and shot him a very dirty look.  
**  
"Fuck you, Sokka."**

Sokka gave her an annoyed look.

**"Geez, Masami, don't be such a Zuko! I was just saying…and anyway if you're so jealous, why don't you go dance with him yourself? I mean, you are his girlfriend!"**

Kali nodded in agreement with Sokka, speaking more mildly.

**"Sure, you oughta go ask him to dance. I'm sure he's just dancing with her right now because he's trying to get all the other kids to dance too."**

Masami stood up huffily, ready to go shove the intruder out of the way, when she turned and caught Aang's eye. He'd left the other girl and was already heading her way, as he shouted,

**"Alright, go with that! Everybody freestyle!"**

Most of the school was on the floor now and Masami watched him carefully pick his way across the dance floor to where she stood.

"**Hey, you okay?"** he asked, his smile fading into a look of concern as he reached her.

**"I'm fine,"** she said, sounding surly.

**"Well, great! Cause I was wondering…do you wanna dance?"** Masami's eyes lit up and she felt relief mixed with a new tension swell over her.

**"I'd like that."**

**"Take my hand,"** Aang said, smiling widely at her.

Soon they were in the middle of the dance floor and before she knew it, she and Aang were performing the dance they'd practiced earlier with a circle of kids watching them. The people gathered around them made her uncomfortable, but Aang, seemingly sensing this, intervened.

**"Don't worry about them,"** he said, gazing into her eyes, **"It's just you and me right now."  
**  
Masami felt herself blush brightly as she smiled. They danced rapidly dodging, flipped, and spinning as the dance entailed a series of movements which made them seem almost as if they were dueling. It was a graceful, elegant, if somewhat violent dance and took a lot of energy. Masami spun and twirled and flipped, the movements seeming to come almost automatically as she focused on following Aang's lead, her head spinning. By the end of the dance, both of them were breathing hard and sweating. Aang caught her in his arms and, as the crowd clapped, leaned down, kissing her long and hard. The night suddenly felt wonderful.

Kali watched her sister and Aang dance quietly, sipping what was left of her second glass of punch and thinking. She thought about how cute the two of them looked together and how happy Aang seemed to be able to make Masami, even when she was in the worst of moods. She thought about months ago when she'd learned the same dance they were doing right now on Zuko's ship during one of the crew's Music Nights. And she thought about how much she wished she weren't here right now by herself at a party. Of course she wasn't really 'by herself' in that she had Masami and some newly developing friends in Toph, Aang, and Sokka. But nonetheless, sitting there watching a bunch of other people (a fair amount of them couples like her sister and Aang) dance and have fun, while she was without a partner or group to dance with left her feeling rather empty inside. Kali glanced over absentmindedly at the cave's entrance and was surprised to see five unexpected visitors standing there. It was the headmaster from Aang's school, along with three guards and a student, and he did not look pleased. Some of the dancing kids noticed him too and suddenly the dance floor became much more still and quiet, though the music continued.

**"He's the one we want!"** shouted the headmaster**, "The boy with the headband!"**

Kali, along with Toph and Sokka, rushed quickly to the back of the cave behind the kids, following Aang and Masami with her eyes as well as the guards. Fortunately for them, the Fire Nation school kids had begun mimicking Aang's headband look, confusing the guards and headmaster. Soon, they could see the students had completely surrounded the four adults. Aang blocked the passageway as they hurried to where Appa was waiting and took off, escaping safely into the night.

Kali looked back at the cave as they soared away from it then looked up at the others. She smirked.

**"I'm pretty sure we're safe now, Sokka. You can take the fake stache and beard off now."**

**"Oh no I can't,"** he grinned, stroking the beard, **"It's permanently glued to my skin."**

**"Great job,"** she responded, raising an eyebrow.

**"Way to go, Dancypants!"** said Toph, nudging Aang, "**I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free."  
**  
**"I don't know," **Aang shrugged modestly, **"It was just a dance party, that's all."**

**"Well I thought it was the best dance party, Aang,"** Masami said, sweeping the unsuspecting Avatar up in a hearty kiss. Kali up at the sky, rolling her eyes and smiling slightly.

**"Flameo, sir,"** congratulated Sokka, clapping, **"Flameo."**

XOXO

Zuko sat at home in his bed, miserably flipping through the sketchbook for what felt like the hundredth time. He'd thought it all through over and over again, struggling to find a way to ensure the Avatar's annihilation once and for all without alerting the rest of the Fire Nation. He'd come up with a plan and almost acted on it but...he stared down at the page he'd looked at over and over again. The unfinished one of them in Ba Sing Se, actually looking happy. He groaned angrily and flung his head down into both his hands, grabbing his hair and yanking at it, frustrated. He flopped onto his back, dropping his arms and feeling defeated. The only way he could make sure the Avatar was ended was by hiring the best assassin the Fire Nation had to offer. Zuko knew just who that was and he was the best for a reason. If the Avatar was alive and in the area he'd find him and see to it he died. But...Zuko sighed. One of the reasons he was such a great assassin was that nothing could stop him. He'd go through anything that got in his way. Or anyone...Zuko glanced down at the picture again. He wanted to end this but...what if she was with him? What if Kali was traveling with the Avatar? If he was alive, it stood to reason she was probably traveling with him and her sister and she'd probably try to help the Avatar. Anger and guilt swirled around inside Zuko as he wished she'd made it easier and just stuck with her nation like she should have. Like his uncle should have. Why had they made things so complicated? He turned over on his stomach and buried his head in his pillow, growling angrily into it.

Zuko sat up suddenly, hearing someone walking quietly just outside his door, and flung the sketchbook off his bed. Just in time too. He glared suspiciously as Azula entered his room, with her usual smug, slight grin.

**"Just thought you ought to know, Zuzu, it's all been taken care of, so you can go back to basking in the glory of not being exiled in utter humiliation and disgrace."**

**"What're you talking about?"** he glowered.

**"I mean that worry you've had, the one about whether or not the Avatar is alive, that's kept you going to visit Uncle Tea-Barrel in the prison each night? It's taken care of. If the Avatar did somehow manage to survive, his good fortune will soon be put to an end."**

Zuko narrowed his eyes.

**"What'd you do?"**

**"Oh don't worry, I just sent the best assassin in all of the Fire Nation after him. Reputation says he's very good at what he does and even better at keeping secrets. It was a perfect fit for the job description. And now that that's been taken care of, I'll be getting some sleep. Sweet dreams, Zuzu."**

With that, she turned and walked out the door, leaving Zuko to spend yet another restless night in his room, imagining the potential consequences of what she'd done.

XOXO

And that calls it for another chapter, I'd like to thank my co-author for helping me along here, and she also would like a side note to be added her from her, so without further ado,

"To all you great and faithful readers, first, I must give you my thanks for being such an enthusiastic audience. Second, I feel it's only right to let those of you who seem to really want Kali to be pregnant know that, sadly, the events in this episode are about as close she comes to that. In other words, a fake pregnancy with Wang Fire's all she's got for you right now. While the appearance of a little Zuzu Jr. would definitely be an interesting plot twist, it couldn't happen currently because, while she and Zuko thought (very hard and probably more often than I bothered to mention) about having sex, they never actually got far enough in their relationship that they actually did. They came close...but didn't quite get there. They were both just too awkward for that. Anyway, I thought I had best address this thought now in order to make sure no one got their hopes up too much. I don't want to give anything about where this story is going away but I will say that it's not entirely impossible that your hope for a pregnancy and baby in this story won't be fulfilled. In fact, it's quite likely the way we're going that someone will get knocked up eventually. Again, thanks very much for reading our story and I hope you're not too disappointed."

Until next time, Flameo!


	22. Order of the White Lotus?

The next few days past slowly to Masami; there were towns all over ruined by the Fire Nation's tyranny, and the group did whatever they could to help them. The boldest of their deeds was the blowing up of a factory in the dead of night, but they didn't want to speak of it much because they knew others were on the look out for them.

So now, they sought refuge in the hills above small towns at night when it was too dark to travel, or when Appa needed a rest. This night, Masami lay curled into Aang's side, both sleeping lightly, though they were soon awoken when Sokka shook Aang's shoulder lightly.

"**It's a meteor shower! Wake up!"** They both looked up, groggily, but sure enough, it really was a sight to behold.

"**Wow…"** Masami breathed, sleepily gazing up at the sky. The group stood, and moved to get a better view from the top of a stable of sorts that had been made for Appa by Toph.  
**  
**_**"**_**Kind of makes you realize how insignificant we are."** Sokka said, was they all gawked up at the sky.

"**Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it 1,000 times."** Toph shrugged. Masami snorted with mild laughter.

_**"**_**Oh, man. You've never **_**not **_**seen anything like this."** Sokka insisted. All of a sudden, a larger meteorite flew above them, causing a great noise as it did. The rock was engulfed in a blue flame unlike any fire they'd ever seen, and as he fell, the groups eyes stayed right on it. The crash was massive, and the aftermath left the group squinting. They didn't know what to make of it, so they decided to give the idea of going near it some thought, and get some sleep, though plumes of smoke quickly caused their minds to change.

They mounted Appa, and flew in the direction of where it had landed. They knew they were heading in the right direction when the air became sticky with heat, and they could smell burning materials. Below, they found it, and there was a fire spreading from where it fell.

**"The fire is spreading, if we don't stop it…"** Masami started, thinking mildly back to her own home, though destroyed by another rampant element, it still wasn't good.

**"****No if about it, we can stop it."** Aang said firmly. The others nodded as Appa landed, Aang, Toph, Sokka and Kali sliding out of the saddle. Masami fell from the saddle to the back of Appa's neck.

**"I'll bend water from there, you guys stop it up here. Yip yip!" **She told them as she gave Appa's reigns a shake and flew past them.

_**"**_**Toph, let's make a trench to keep the fire from coming any closer."** Aang suggested, getting right to it. Kali stepped up too,

"**I'll hold the fire off while you do." **She called back over her shoulder as she moved closer to it and took her stance, readying herself for a fight.

**"****What should I do?"** Sokka asked, dejectedly.

_**"**_**Keep an eye on Momo."** Aang told him as he moved off with Toph. Momo flew and landed on Sokka's shoulder, chirping.

_**"**_**So what, I'm just a lemur-sitter?**__**There, there. Feel better?"** Sokka asked sarcastically, dropping to a place on the ground, out of the way of the "useful people". As Toph and Aang created a barricade for the flames, Kali stood before them, taking portions of the flames and dispelling them as steam, but it was slow going, and dangerous being this close. She looked over her shoulder for a second, and nearly lost her footing. She moved back faster and she called over her shoulder,

"**Any progress back there?"** She asked, sounding mildly panicked until Aang called back, "Yeah, come back this way a bit." She had never been so happy to hear the young Avatar's voice as when she had mass amounts of fire in her face. She doubled back, and took refuge with the other two as Masami flew over on Appa, a massive swirl of water coming with them, swirling around Appa as they flew, then she sent it crashing towards the fire, in a way that made it appear a smidgen like rain. The rest of the fire became manageable, and Toph created a large stone to roll over some off the remaining fire. While Aang took a bit of the falling water, and expanded on Masami's effort, and Kali went back to her steam creation.

Meanwhile, Sokka had been sprayed with embers, and had started stomping them out as they sprung little fires around him.

_**"**_**Sokka, stand clear."** Aang demanded as he began to work on bending water of the last bit of the fires into a mass of ice and snow.

"**Right, stand clear. Got it."** Sokka grumbled, moving away. As the fires died out gradually, Masami landed Appa, and rejoined the group.

"**Good work, everybody."** Aang said with a smile, dusting off his hands. Sokka also brushed himself off, and Momo shook snow out of his ears, and flew to look at himself in a spot of ice, screaming as he saw himself, he paniced and headed back for the group.

XOXO

The guard walked away slowly, throwing one more disgusted look at Iroh over his shoulder before heading down the hallway toward the other prisoners. Iroh'd been doing this ever since he'd returned to the Fire Nation and been locked up in this prison. He allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction at how easily he'd been deceiving the guards into thinking him a madman, then sat up straight, crossing his legs as he ate the rest of his meal. It wasn't exactly gourmet, but at least it was food. He'd certainly had worse…

XOXO

Kali glanced over at Sokka as the others talked. He'd seemed down ever since the previous night. Currently, he was sitting alone on the plaza's edge of the restaurant they were eating lunch at and being far too quiet. He wasn't eating either. Something was definitely up with him. She glanced back as Aang spoke.

**"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night,"** said Aang, glancing around at the town, which had been very close to where last night's fire had been. Kali nodded, thinking how fortunate the town was they hadn't been wiped out by the inferno.

**"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore,"** said Toph through a full mouth**," I miss the love."**

"Boo-hoo, poor heroes."

Everyone looked over at Sokka as he spoke sullenly. Kali couldn't help but agree with his sentiment. She certainly wasn't used to any 'hero worship.'

**"What's your problem, Sokka?"** asked Masami.

**"Nothing, forget it."**  
**  
"What?**" asked Aang, everyone watching Sokka attentively.

**"It's just…all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff, like putting out forest fires, and flying around, and making other stuff fly around,"** Sokka said, gesturing as he spoke**, "I can't fly around, okay?"**

He turned back to stare away from the plaza.  
**  
"I can't do anything…"  
**  
Kali surveyed the group's reactions. Everyone looked a bit uncomfortable, including Masami, who glanced down at her food uneasily.  
**  
"That's not true," **said Aang trying to be upbeat,** "Nobody reads a map like you do, Sokka!"**

"I can't read at all!" chimed in Toph.

**"Yeah,"** agreed Masami, **"…And nobody's quite as sarcastic as you, Sokka."**

**"Right,"** continued Aang, "**You keep us laughing all the time."**

Kali tried to think of something to add, but, as she hadn't known him very long, found herself at a temporary loss.

**"Look, I appreciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is so amazing and so special,"** responded Sokka sadly, **"and I'm…not. I'm just the guy in the group who's regular."  
**  
The group looked at each other and Toph spoke in an undertone.

**"Whoa, he's really down."**

**"Yeah,"** responded Aang, **"I wish there were something we could do to help…hmmmm…"  
**  
His eyes brightened suddenly.

**"Wait! I know!"** He rushed over to Sokka.

"**Look Sokka, I know you're feeling down right now but I think I figured out something to help make you feel better."  
**

"**Really?"** he responded glumly.

**"Yeah,"** smiled Aang, **"C'mon!"**

Soon they were in a weapons shop and Sokka, his troubles seemingly forgotten, began shopping to his heart's content, enthusiastically trying all manner of weapons. Kali cringed as he whacked himself in the face and collapsed into different weapons and such. She perused the sword collection for a bit until, hearing an especially loud crash, she turned to see what he'd done now. Instead she found that Aang had tried on a ridiculous looking concoction of armor. Masami was striving to help him recover from his fall as he groaned something about sticking with what he had. Sokka soon joined Kali in studying the various swords and they quickly noticed a specific set that looked particularly beautiful. The shopkeeper, overhearing Sokka admiring them, informed them the swords had been made by a great master, the best in the Fire Nation in fact, who lived in a castle nearby. Aang and the others, hearing this, quickly suggested to Sokka that he should ask the master for training, as they'd all had masters to help them become great. Sokka considered it for a moment then agreed that he should ask the master about it. Soon he was off to the master's house. Kali, Masami, Toph, and Aang returned to camp, did a few tasks around the campsite, and promptly found themselves bored.

XOXO

Sokka had felt extremely nervous as he'd entered the courtyard of the beautiful and large castle, following the rather condescending butler who'd let him in. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea after all. This guy would probably take one look at him and tell him to get lost. As they walked up through the castle, Sokka's nervousness increased but he resolved to remain calm and collected once he met the master. The butler gestured for him to enter a large room where he could see the master sat, writing. Sokka entered, gazing at the beautiful view the room had of the surrounding area before returning his attention to the master who awaited his introduction silently.

**"Master,"** Sokka spoke somewhat hesitantly, **"my name is Sokka, and I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword."  
**  
**"Sokka. That's an unusual name,"** replied the master thoughtfully.

That threw Sokka off. Had he just blown his cover?

**"Oh, uh, really? Uh, where I come from, the Fire Nation colonies, it's a pretty normal name…for Fire Nation colonials."  
**  
Master Piandao didn't look at him but continued writing.

**"Let me guess. You've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town. And you think you deserve to learn from The Master."**

"Well, actually, I've been all over the world."

**"Yep, here we go."**

**"And, I know one thing for sure,"** Sokka got down on his knees, feeling greatly humbled in the master's presence, **"I have a lot to learn."**

**"You're not doing a very good job of selling yourself,"** was the reply, as the master glanced back at him.

**"I know. Your butler told me that when I met you, I would have to prove my worth. But the truth is…I don't know if I am worthy."**

**"Hmm, I see,"** replied the master, standing up. Sokka felt sure he was about to be thrown out of the castle and stared down at the floor anxiously.

**"Well then, let's find out together how worthy you are."**

Sokka looked up sharply. Had he really just heard that?

**"I will train you."**

Sokka's heart leapt and he smiled a huge smile. I can't believe it! he thought, feeling overcome with excitement. Soon the master had conducted him elsewhere in the house where he changed into a outfit more appropriate for a swordsman's apprentice. He followed Master Piandao outside where the master explained to him how he should view the sword in order to best make use of it and demonstrated a few techniques. Sokka followed his lead and practiced a series of stances and motions as Piandao explained the purpose of each one and how practicing them would benefit Sokka's swordplay. After an hour or so of practicing the movements, the master led Sokka back up to the room where he had first met him. Sokka looked up at him uneasily as Piandao handed him a brush and explained that he should practice a variety of arts to keep his mind sharp and that in writing his name, he would stamp his identity on the page just as he would use the sword to stamp his identity on the battlefield. Sokka thought he understand what he meant and confidently prepared to write his name. After all, writing his name wasn't so hard. Then Piandao pointed out something he hadn't thought about before.

**"Remember, you cannot take back a stroke of the brush, or a stroke of the sword."**

It was a good point. And with a sword, that was pretty important, wasn't it? With a brush too actually. After all, Sokka was pretty proud of his artistic skills, no matter what everybody else said, and he didn't want to make any mistakes writing his name.

**"You are getting ink on your face."**

**"I am,"** asked Sokka, having been too deep in thought to notice before, **"I am! So, this is about putting my identity on the page, right?"  
**  
An idea had struck him and when the master nodded, Sokka quickly placed more ink on his face and used his face as a brush, stamping the page using the ink on his face, resulting in a picture which looked much like a face. He showed it to the master proudly, who gave him a skeptical look. Sokka's smile shrunk. Maybe…that hadn't been the best idea after all?

Soon he was out practicing his sword-fighting skills against the butler, who's name he learned was Fat (which struck him as a name that, if he weren't in the middle of training with a sword master, would be great for making all kinds of jokes about). Unfortunately for him, Fat seemed to have learned a bit from the master himself and Sokka quickly found himself running away in fear, desperately trying to escape the blows of Fat's wooden sword.

After Sokka had been sufficiently humiliated and bruised, the master had him clean up a bit then follow him out into the property behind his castle. Sokka climbed up what felt like a grassy ridge, trying to keep pace with Piandao and wondering what in the world they were doing all the way out here and why the master had blindfolded him. As they reached the crest of the hill, Piandao yanked the blindfold off and Sokka was stunned. He stared out at the beautiful waterfall flowing before him and the gorgeous landscape surrounding it. Who knew the Fire Nation actually had some beauty to it? He barely noticed as the master mentioned something about painting teaching warriors to hold the land. Abruptly, his view was cut off as he was swiveled around and shoved down to where a table sat holding paints and paper. Sokka soon found himself forced to paint what he had seen. Having finished, he felt he'd done a rather good job at the task this time and showed it to Piandao cheerfully, confident this time the master would approve. The master merely commented on Sokka's adding of a rainbow though and then sighed when Sokka asked if that was okay. Sokka followed him down the ridge, feeling discouraged.

Sokka practiced the series of stances and movements Piandao had taught him earlier again for a while, with Piandao supervising him before he gained more bruises from training with Fat. Fat was an older man and somewhat overweight but he certainly kept Sokka on guard. Sokka struggled to implement what he'd learned from the master so far, doing somewhat better this time but still, overall, getting hit rather hard sometimes.

Next the master had him try rock gardening, explaining that it taught the warrior "to manipulate his surroundings and use them to his advantage." Sokka thought about it for a moment, taking in all that was available. How could they be improved? After giving it some good thought, he set about shifting a rock and some comfortable feeling moss into the shade of a tree, creating a perfect place to relax. He waved at the butler, who'd just arrived, and requested a cold drink, knowing this would only add to the perfection. Piandao joined him in the shade for a moment they relaxed in the shade together while Piandao told Sokka more about how he could work to improve his swordplay. As soon as Sokka had finished his drink, Piandao marched him back over to the training ring where Sokka faced his opponent for the third time, determined to prove his worth and get the upper hand this time. After a long, hard-fought battle, he finally succeeded, taking advantage of the butler's failed attack to disarm him. He proudly bowed to the master, feeling more confident. Sokka changed out of the training outfit and back into his apprentice clothes and returned to the ring where the master still sat, his drink now finished.

**"You've had a good first day of training,"** said Piandao, as Sokka sat before him.

**"I have,"** asked Sokka, recalling all the disappointed looks he'd gotten during the day, **"But I thought I messed up every single thing we worked on."**

**"You messed things up in a very special way…You are ready for a real sword."**

Sokka looked up wide-eyed. Really?

**"Are you giving me one of yours**?" he asked, unable to hide his excitement.

**"No."**

Sokka frowned, thinking this meant he'd have to go find a sword himself. It's not like he had a ton of money to spend on a good one either.

**"Your sword must be an extension of yourself. So tomorrow you will make your own sword."**

Sokka brightened up immediately. That was probably even better than getting one of Piandao's! Soon the master had shown him to a room filled with swords where he obviously had made them. The master showed him some examples of materials he could use to make his sword. After examining them for a moment, Sokka resolved that he didn't want to use any of these. He'd thought of a way better material.

**"Master, would it be possible for me to leave and bring back a special material for my sword?"**

**"I wouldn't have it any other way,"** the master replied, smiling down at him.

Soon Sokka was on his way back to the camp site, extremely excited about the new sword he was going to make and the great master he'd found to help him make it.

XOXO

"**So, what do we do now?"** Masami asked, as the group sat around in a circle.

"**I dunno, I guess I could help Aang with firebending?"** Kali suggested offhandedly.

"**Yeah! That'd be great!"** Masami urged, Aang however looked more wary then happy. He didn't like the idea of firebending, at all. He gave Masami a look, and she smiled, a reassuring smile, and he swallowed, and he looked back at Kali and nodded curtly.

And as it was settled, Kali started working him with small breathing exercises. She had him close his eyes, and she brought her hands in front of her, pulling herself into a sort of prayer position to begin breathing, but she didn't heart any other form of breathing near her, so she cracked open an eye to find Masami had run off with Aang. She wasn't surprised really.

So, she tried again, and this time Masami brought Aang to his knees in a tickle fight. So, she gave up a second time.

By the time it was getting dark, she'd tried no less than ten times to start trying to train Aang, and Masami had ruined every attempt. Kali sat by the fire, looking less them amused as Sokka appeared back in the group.

"**Did you miss me?"** He asked with a cheeky smile, getting everyone's attention.

Kali looked up, relieved to see Sokka, as he made a disgusted face on being greeted by the sight of Masami smooching Aang. Thank goodness...

**"Eeeew, can't you guys ever do that, y'know, in like somewhere more private than the middle of our campsite?"  
**  
Kali watched Masami shoot him a look while Aang frowned slightly then quickly smiled.

**"It's good to have you back, Sokka. How was training?"**

**"Well it's been...good, I guess. But I need some help. Do you guys think you can help me move that meteor up to the master's house? I need to use it for something."**

**"Psh, no problem,"** said Toph, cracking her knuckles.

**"We have to make it look convincing though**," said Sokka worriedly.

**"Yeah, the master might catch on we're not just a bunch of regular Fire Nation folks when a meteorite just plops down in front of his house accompanied by five kids," **commented Kali dryly.

After some thinking, they decided to attempt to make it look as though they had pushed it up together. Toph brought it closer to the house and then they began shoving it up, with Toph doing most of the real work. Eventually they arrived before the beautiful home of the master, which was enormous and surrounded by fantastic scenery. Sokka rapidly knocked on the gates and soon the master himself appeared at the door. Master Piandao bowed and welcomed them in, after giving them a somewhat dubious look. Kali wasn't so sure he bought the whole 'pushing' of the meteor up to the house but at least he'd allowed them in nonetheless.

They all stayed the night, while Sokka worked hard to build himself a sword. Kali could understand why he'd been so excited about it. She herself was very excited to be there, getting the chance to wander through the halls of the great sword master and view his various swords (though she and the others were watched quite closely by the master's servant, Fat, who regarded them suspiciously). And the master himself was a very impressive character. She found herself starting to wish she'd gone to him to request training too, even though Master Haruka had taught her very well. Soon the night had passed by and they were all gathered into one room, Sokka bowing humbly before the master, who looked down upon him sternly. Kali and the others watched quietly as Fat entered the room bearing Sokka's new sword and presented it to Master Piandao.

**"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me."**

The master paused.

**"No, it certainly wasn't your skills."**

Sokka stared down at the floor, feeling ashamed his skills hadn't been more impressive.

**"You showed something beyond that."**

Sokka glanced up warily as the master unsheathed his new bright black sword.

**"Creativity, versatility, intelligence…these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you."**

Sokka accepted the sword silently. Did Master Piandao really think that highly of him?  
**  
"You told me you didn't know if you were worthy, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained,"** the master finished, staring down at him seriously. Sokka stared back up at him for a moment, pride welling up inside of him. Then suddenly the pride disappeared, replaced by guilt, and Sokka looked back down, feeling more ashamed than ever.

**"I'm sorry, Master. You're wrong,"** he said quietly, **"I am not worthy. I'm not who you think I am. I'm not from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe."**

He heard the others gasp behind him but ignored them and offered his sword up for the master to take back.

**"I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you...I'm sorry."**

The master turned away, frowning. After a moment, he spoke even more quietly than Sokka had.

**"I'm sorry too."**

Sokka barely had time to react, emitting a startled cry as the master's sword abruptly slashed towards him. He staggered backward a couple of steps, managing to block the sword with his own just in time. The others moved forward to help but he held up a hand. He'd caused this problem. He'd solve it. Or at least...try to...

**"No,"** he said determinedly, **"This is my fight."**

Soon, he was beginning to somewhat regret his decision to take on the sword master one on one. After all, he was a master for a reason. But Sokka remained determined. Piandao lunged at him fiercely but hande parried then lunged back. Piandao quickly took back the offensive, thrusting at Sokka's feet. Sokka jumped back hastily then stabbed at Piandao again but was quickly deflected and struck by Piandao's hilt. He groaned as he was sent flying backward onto the ground, then jumped back and up onto the post of a nearby bridge as the master advanced upon him swiftly. He leapt and rolled back and forth across the bridge, avoiding the ferocious slashing of the master's sword behind him.

**"Excellent,"** the master called after him as he raced away from the bridge, **"Using your superior agility against an older opponent…smart."  
**  
Sokka was soon being forced up a stone staircase, ducking and dodging, completely on the defensive. He pushed off the wall towards the top of the staircase, lunging at Piandao in an attempt to break the pattern. He took advantage of a brief respite to pull himself to the ground above the staircase.

**"Good use of terrain…fighting from the high ground,"** commented the master, as Sokka attacked him from above. How can he be critiquing me at a time like this? wondered Sokka. Receiving his master's returning blows, Sokka acted quickly to trap Piandao's sword beneath his own. He felt vaguely relieved briefly, until Piandao flung him off balance, freeing his own sword. He landed against some bamboo and looked up, frightened. Having the master charging after him with so much energy and ferocity, yet able to treat the fight as if it were just one more test for Sokka, was truly terrifying. Soon Sokka was flying through the bamboo, trying out each idea that came to his mind, using the bamboo to slow the master down, to hide behind then pop out of, to strike at the master with. But Piandao, was not to be deterred.  
**  
"Yes, use your surroundings! Make them fight for you**!" he called after his fleeing trainee.

Sokka shrieked, horrified, as he raced out of the bamboo, panicking. Nothing's working! he thought, his mind desperately searching for a new idea that would save him. Suddenly, the master was right beside him, his sword gleaming right in front of Sokka's face. Sokka slid under the sword, scampered a few steps away, then, digging his sword into the ground, flung the sand up into his enemy's face. Piandao blinked and tried to open his eyes but Sokka had succeeded.

**"Very resourceful,"** conceded the master, now blinded. But still deadly, no doubt. Sokka started to slink away, tip-toeing as quietly as possible, hoping to escape. But, with his eyes on the master, he couldn't exactly watch where he was going that well.

The master's face turned toward him sharply as a twig snapped beneath his meet and Sokka swung his sword up to block the oncoming blow just in time. Before he fully knew what was happening, the master had maneuvered his sword away from him, flinging it far to Sokka's right and lashing out a Sokka. Sokka's stomach lurched and he dove backwards toward where the sword had gone, dust rising as he hit the ground on his back. He looked up, horrified, at the master looming above him, his sword pointed inches from Sokka's face. He'd lost. I'm so dead, thought Sokka. But then...

**"Excellent work, Sokka,"** said Piandao, swinging his sword back from Sokka's face.

Sokka squinted at him, stunned. Wait, what?

**"I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar."**

Piandao's sword was sheathed as the others, who'd been advancing on Piandao from behind, paused, startled.

**"How did you know?"** asked Aang, as Sokka stood.

**"Oh, I've been around a while. You pick things up. Of course, I knew from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe. You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try 'Lee.' There's a million 'Lee's."**

Sokka felt confused. So...he wasn't in trouble after all then? If he'd known that all along, why hadn't turned them in to the authorities? Kali must have been thinking the same thing.

**"If you already knew that, why'd you agree to train him**?" she asked.

**"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all."**

The master turned to Sokka, who looked up at him, still feeling surprised by this turn of events. Piandao returned his sword to him.

**"Sokka, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am."**

Sokka bowed reverently. It was good to have a master.

Kali followed the others slowly as they walked out the master's gates, loath to leave so soon. She'd been too worried about Sokka at the time the fight took place to enjoy the mastery Piandao had over his craft, but now, looking back on it, she regretted even more that she hadn't requested to be trained as well. Of course, he might not have accepted her but it still would have been worth a try, right?

**"Wait!"**

They all turned as Fat rushed to catch up with them. He addressed Sokka.

**"The Master wanted you to have this, as something to remember him by."**

He handed the tiny bag to Sokka, then bowed and returned back within the gate.

**"What is it?"** asked Toph.

**"It's a Pai Sho tile,"** said Sokka, sounding surprised.

**"The white lotus...hmm,"** said Aang.

**"What's it mean?"** asked Toph.  
**  
"I have no idea," **replied Sokka.

Kali furrowed her brows and glanced back at the gates. The design on them formed a white lotus around the fire. Could he be part of the Order of-?

**"The White Lotus,"** said Kali aloud.

**"Well yeah, we know it's a white lotus,"** said Sokka, sounding irritated.

**"I mean, the Order of the White Lotus."**

**"What's that?"**  
**  
"It's...a kind of club based around the game of Pai Sho. Zuko's uncle is a Grand Master in it, whatever that means exactly. They helped us sneak into Ba Sing Se when we were refugees in the Earth Kingdom..."**

She glanced up at Sokka.

**"Maybe your master is one of them."**

**"So it's a bunch of old guys who play Pai Sho and help each other out in times of need?"**

"Yeah, I guess so, basically."

Sokka shrugged and looked back down at the tile, then brightened.

**"Oh! This reminds me. I saved some of the space rock for you, Toph. I figured you might like the chance to bend space earth."  
**  
**"Sweet!"**

Toph spent a good portion of the remainder of their day's journey toying with the space earth. Masami and Aang enjoyed being a couple together and Sokka steered their course until they reached a new campsite for the night, spending much of the trip with his nose in the map. Kali lay awake that night, wondering what was really the story behind the Order of the White Lotus and worrying about Uncle Iroh. Where was he? And more importantly, was he okay?

XOXO

**"You used to be the pride of The Fire Nation! Our top general! The Dragon of the West. Now, look at you,"** growled the guard, glaring down at Iroh, **"Look what you've become."  
**  
Iroh watched warily as the guard left his cell and continued down the hall, then stood quietly, putting the fruit in his mouth. He untied the robe, allowing the sheet he'd folded up inside to keep the appearance of his former, bigger-stomached self to fall to the ground. Taking a bite from the fruit, he leapt to the top of his cell and, grabbing it with one arm, began hoisting himself up and down slowly. His rigorous exercising routine for the day was nearly done for the day now, as night was approaching. He took another bite from the apple, feeling satisfied. It felt good to be back in such good shape. He felt younger and, in a calm, collected way, more alive and ready for action than he had in a while. The time was approaching, he knew, when he would quit himself of this dark imprisonment and venture forth to summon the rest of the Order. Destiny was drawing near...for himself, his still much-conflicted nephew, the young Avatar, and the rest of the world. And now, he would be ready for it.


	23. We Fly Like Ozai!

"Are you sure going to Ember Island is a good idea, Sokka?" Masami asked, her top flying away with the wind. Aang watched it go and looked back at his now topless girlfriend and smiled. He loved his life. Sokka stood up on Appa's head, pulling his boxers off and putting them on his head.

"Totally sure. It's completely safe. Aang can wear his arrow proudly and everything. I know no one would ever think to go there to look for us, we'll blend in fine as long as everyone takes off their pants and puts them on their head." And, the group did as they were told.

As it were, Sokka got them lost as always. They landed Appa outside some fort, and Sokka walked up to a Fire Nation soldier who stood on some rocks, punching fish as the hopped out of the water.

"Excuse me Good Sir! My name is Wang Fire, and I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of Ember Island?"

"PUNCH A FISH IN THE FACE!" The man screamed.

"Thank you!" Sokka cried, grabbed Appa's reigns, and jerked him steadily upwards.

"I know exactly where we are now!" Sokka declared proudly, flying the group towards the sands of the beach.

XOXO

Zuko scowled, sprawling on his back beneath the umbrella beside Mai. He had a few reasons for scowling, though they weren't the usual ones. 1) His pants didn't fit his head properly and Azula had been teasing him about it all day. 2) He was with Mai. He'd come to the conclusion that she was a total drag. No emotion. No passion. It was really killing his aura. And he didn't even believe in auras. That was all the circus freak's idea. 3) His ice cream was melting. 4) He hadn't been in the previous chapter of Too Serious Too Soon and consequently was feeling very ANGRY. 5) He'd finally become convinced of what he really wanted out of life. Honor and his father's love no longer really concerned him. He knew exactly at this moment what he really wanted. He wanted to get laid. And he supposed some tea wouldn't hurt either. I really am turning into Uncle, he thought glumly, as he sat up.

Kali gazed down at the beach below them. Maybe Sokka had actually managed to get them to the right place. A true miracle. Her pants had flown away in the wind at this point since they weren't exactly the best fit for her head but she was making do with her bandanna temporarily anyway. She averted her eyes purposefully from where Aang and Masami were at the moment and looked up at the sky. Abruptly, Sokka apparently decided to dive-bomb the beach and suddenly she was clinging to Appa's tail as they zoomed down, Sokka and Toph making a loud sound effect as they did so.

"NRRRRRRRRRMMM!"

At last she lost her grasp on the tail (or rather the hair she was holding lost its grasp as Appa was shedding once again) and fell upon the beach, colliding with an umbrella as she did so.

Zuko stared at Kali, who had crumpled the umbrella quite suddenly and unexpectedly and had decidedly crumpled Mai as well, who was moaning slightly from beneath the umbrella and had made a sarcastic remark of some sort. Kali smiled awkwardly.

"It's just raining pale people today!"

"There really is an almighty Spirit!" shouted Zuko happily, simultaneously spraying his drippy, melted ice cream all over Kali. There was a poof behind him and he turned to behold his uncle floating calmly before him, legs crossed and a cup of tea in his hand.

"You called me, nephew?" he asked, with a smile full of serenity and wisdom.

Masami watched Kali fall from the bison, and she waved as she went.

"Bye bye!" She cried, looking back as Aang too let go of the bison, soaring away like a flying squirrel. He sailed towards the water, sneezed, and created a large funnel of water. As the water headed towards the beach, the hurricane broke apart and out popped King Bumi.

"Hi everybody!" He screamed as he landed on his hands. He skidded to a halt, and he did a large backflip, landing with a massive thud, creating tremors of the earth as he did. As he did that, Appa landed on a child's sand castle, and the Gaang hopped off, and the group saw a gathering of people towards the other side of the beach.

The gang walked towards the group,.they couldn't see over the tops of people's heads so they decided to push and squeeze their way through the gaps to make it to the front of the group.

At the forefront of the crowd was a very familiar figure, hula-hooping while juggling lemons and wearing a feathered headdress—actually…that was ALL that she was wearing. The people around them seemed to be enjoying the show, Sokka especially.

"…is that…is that Emi?" Masami's eyes widened in surprise.  
At hearing her name Emi jumped in surprise, dropping her lemons all over the ground where the crowd formed a sort of frenzy to try and gather the lemons back up ["Free lemons!" "I could use this for my pie!" "I could use these to rub on my body tonight when Henry gets home!]

"Oh, hey guys!" Emi greeted excitedly, "I'm just practicing my street performing act!"

Kali and Zuko had suddenly found themselves surrounded by a big crowd and a naked girl with a headdress perched upon her head and lemons in her arms in front of them. It had been rather startling but Uncle seemed to think it was a worthwhile show, clapping for her when her act abruptly finished. Kali thought she recognized the girl and then suddenly the rest of the Gaang appeared. Azula and her friend Ty Lee pushed through the crowd. Ty Lee ran forward, hugging Zuko and Kali together, and asked them if she could be Zuko's best man, while Azula walked over to Aang awkwardly.

"You're...kind of cute, you know that, Avatar? That's also a sharp outfit you're wearing..."

Before she could get any farther than that, however, she became highly distracted by the fact that the pants upon her head weren't sitting quite properly, which had led one hair to hang down in her face. One hair out of place simply wasn't acceptable. As she struggled to do so, a loud roaring sound of sorts was heard above and suddenly the Fire Lord was landing amidst them. He wore a T-shirt which read Fire Lord Airlines: We fly like Ozai!. He smiled happily at them.

"I've decided to give up on bringing death, destruction, and complete domination to the rest of the world! I'm opening up my own airlines instead! And to celebrate, free ice cream for everyone!"

Saying this, he whipped out of seemingly nowhere a large amount of ice cream. Unfortunately, he was about as adept with ice cream as his son (one of the few things they had in common) and it splattered and dripped all over everyone. No one minded, however, because the ice cream felt good in the hot sun.

"Azula said what about my Avatar?" Masami boomed as she pushed the ice cream from her face. As soon as she was able to pull the pants off her head, she tossed them to the ground.

"Uh oh! She done tossed her pants off! CAT BEAR FIGHT!" Some surfer called as he clapped about the girls about to go at it. He had no idea just how vicious this fight could get! Just as Azula readied herself for a fight, and Masami turned into a large green creature from another planet called the Hulk. She lifted Azula in her massive fist, held her down, and stomped on her head viciously like she was a mere sneezing beetle.

As soon as she was done, she turned back to her normal self. She wiped her hands on Azula's bloodied corpse, and went on about her business. Just then, it seemed to start raining cabbages! Everyone looked up, and then there was a man falling from amoungst the cabbages.

"Help!" He cried, and was saved as Bumi appeared back on the scene, riding a large Pterodactyl.

"My hero!" He cried as they landed, leaning into kiss Bumi on the cheek.

Kali and Zuko quickly sought shelter from the cabbage rain in the nearby more forested area of island, along with the rest of the beach(except for Azula, who'd been destroyed, and Mai, who was still recovering beneath the umbrella).

"I don't remember your sister being...that green," commented Zuko, squinting again at Masami.

"Well, it only happens whenever she gets really mad...so a good deal actually," replied Kali.

They stopped for a moment so that the rest of their group could catch up. The Fire Lord was the last to join them.

"This is really terrible weather for starting my new airline in," he said sadly.

"Well, look on the bright side," the Cabbage Man said, dismounting from Bumi's Pterodactyl, "At least our family is back together now...well, except for Azula."

Ozai, Zuko, and everyone else stared in shock as the Cabbage Man removed his face (apparently a mask) to display the beautiful face of none other than the Fire Lady Ursa. A touching reunion was had but all members of the royal family present. Hearing a moaning they turned to see a mangled Azula, somehow now mutated into a zombie, lurching toward them. They tearfully welcomed her into the circle and suddenly, Kali could tell that Azula and Zuko wouldn't be such cranky, difficult people anymore. In Azula's case, she couldn't really think anymore now that she was a zombie so she actually appeared to have a relatively cheerful disposition.

Enjoying the sweet reunion of the family in front of her, Kali leaned back against a nearby palm tree only to have it start back from her, shouting in alarm.

"What was that?" asked Sokka, looking just as alarmed by the tree as it had sounded. A noise that sounded a lot like the splitting of the tree was heard and the palm leaves and trunk of the tree fell down to reveal none other than Admiral Zhao.

"Shhhh," he whispered conspiratorially to them, glancing around, "Everyone's supposed to think I'm dead still. I'm going to remake my entire identity!"

"How's that?" asked Toph, who, though she had no idea who Zhao was, nonetheless wondered what this man could be thinking exactly.

"I'm going to become...A ROCK STAR!" he exclaimed happily, whipping out a tsungi horn, "I've always wanted to be. I've already found a band to join. We'll be called ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE and THE FLAMEOS!"

So, just as he tells everyone they need to be silent about his appearance, a massive stage falls out of the sky, and Zhao takes his horn, and started to play. The beach erupted in applause and couples began dancing. As they did, a group Kali knew well started selling food.

"Aren't those the guys from Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked, unamused.

"They are indeed, and I want some food." She said, walking off, and Zuko ran after her, not wanting to lose her again.

"I love you!" He said as he caught up to her.

"Me too! Let's go screw like rabbits!" She cried grabbing him by the shirt, and disappearing into a puff of smoke.

A moment later however they puffed back because Kali still wanted to get food from Conall, Miki, and Dwi Shu. She was hungry. Zuko decided he was as well and that he'd need all the energy he could get for what they were about to do. Meanwhile, Masami and Aang had followed through with Kali's idea and were contentedly beneath Zhao's stage 'screwing like rabbits.' Consequently, there were lots of strange sound effects and fog/wind effects being added to Zhao's show, but he was too busy to notice.

Ariana, the Earth King, and their bears soon arrived along with all other manners of peoples from around the world in order to enjoy Zhao's show. Quite unexpectedly, his dream was coming true. The world was now in complete harmony once again thanks to Ozai's love of aircraft and Zhao's rockin' new groove. Emi and Sokka danced about wildly in the background of the stage. Toph joined Zhao on stage as well and revealed herself to be a very talented singer. Mai finally recovered from being smushed and joined the zombie Azula and the ever happy Ty Lee in heading off to a nearby bar for some drinks.

Having finished their meal by now, Zuko and Kali sailed away on his newly obtained Shoeboat, with Uncle following them, floating in the air still and blasting the song "I'm on a Shoeboat" while sipping more tea. They went inside the ship to fulfill their innermost desires and weren't seen ashore again for many months (until they returned with little baby Zuko Junior, whom they eventually resolved to just call Junior, after much urging from Uncle). Together with Masami and Aang (who would ultimately have twelve children) and the rest of the world, they all lived happily ever after.


	24. A Note

Hotmans!

This is a bit overdue, but we are obviously taking a bit of a hiatus. We do hope to come back and finish this soon, but this isn't a good time for either of us. So, we hope you stick around, and look for an update sooner rather than later hopefully, and we apologize for the last chapter, but if one sees the date, then you can tell it was in fact…APRIL FOOLS!

Stay Flamin!

Alex && Katie


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